European Council President Charles Michel held "preparatory" phone calls with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday, August 30, Michel himself said on Twitter.

The talks came ahead of a trilateral meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.

Michel, Pashinyan and Aliyev held their third meeting since December in Brussels on May 22 and focused on the situation in the South Caucasus and the development of EU relations with both countries as well as the broader region. According to a statement from the EU, Michel told the two leaders that it was necessary that the rights and security of the ethnic Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh be addressee.