Putin and Durov meeting: where and when it happened, how many times they met, what happened in Baku, denial of negotiations

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied reports of a meeting with Telegram founder Pavel Durov in Azerbaijan. According to him, he did not know that the entrepreneur would be in Baku on the same dates as him.

The head of state said that he had met the Russian media manager only once in his life. The meeting took place many years ago in the Kremlin, and few people in the head of state’s inner circle were aware of it.

Putin stressed that from that moment on he had no further contact with the founder of Telegram.

Putin said that the Russian authorities have no complaints against Durov

Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that the country’s authorities have no claims against Telegram founder Pavel Durov.

“We had no complaints against him,” the president said during his speech at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF). At the same time, the politician noted that he was aware of the complaints of many foreign countries against the businessman.

Commenting on this topic, the head of state’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov noted that the Kremlin had never organized separate negotiations with the Telegram founder. He also denied any agreements between the Russian authorities and Durov, adding that Moscow is nevertheless ready to provide assistance to the entrepreneur, since he is still a Russian citizen.

Moscow names reason for Durov’s arrest

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Pavel Durov was arrested for his freedom and unwillingness to comply with Western orders. The diplomat expressed confidence that the West hoped to suppress competition within the framework of globalization by arresting the businessman.

Lavrov recalled that the West is opposed to the democratization of Internet governance, which was demonstrated by the arrest of the founder of the messenger.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added that there were also questions related to Telegram’s activities in Russia, but the country’s authorities refrained from making arrests.