The Eastern European group of countries has chosen Baku, Azerbaijan to host next year’s COP29 climate talks, according to two sources in the COP28 meeting room where the decision was made, Paralel.Az reports citing Climate Home News.

There is an overall consensus that Azerbaijan should host the COP29 U.N. climate summit next year, Azerbaijan's Ecology Minister Mukhtar Babayev said on Saturday, Reuters reported.

"I'm delighted to announce that there is an overall consensus on the candidacy of Azerbaijan to host COP29," he told the COP28 summit in Dubai.

Note that the host country for next year's summit must be in the Eastern European region. Armenia withdrew its candidacy in favor of Azerbaijan and expressed its support for Baku's hosting. As Russia said it would veto any European Union country's bid to host, Bulgaria also withdrew its bid and expressed its support for Baku.