Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has apologized over the death of Russian peacekeepers who were killed by the Azerbaijani military when returning to one of their posts in Nagorno-Karabakh.

A military vehicle carrying Russian peacekeepers came under fire and its crew was killed on Wednesday, September 20 amid Azerbaijan’s aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. Moscow confirmed their death hours after the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh agreed to all of Azerbaijan’s conditions, including the dissolution of the Defense Army.

Aliyev made the apology in a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, with the latter emphasizing the importance of ensuring the rights and security of the Armenian population of Karabakh. The readiness of the Azerbaijani side to interact on these issues with Russian peacekeepers was confirmed, the Kremlin said in a statement.

“It was agreed to intensify work on the negotiation track in line with the well-known trilateral agreements at the highest level in 2020–2022, primarily in terms of unblocking transport links, delimiting the Azerbaijani-Armenian border and preparing a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan,” the Kremlin added