Kremlin spokesman Demitry Peskov says he hopes today’s meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will help ensure security and normalize life in Karabakh.

"Every time, we hope that all meetings the Azerbaijani president holds, including with the president of Turkey, will help ensure security in the region and normalize the situation in Karabakh after what has happened," Peskov told journalists according to TASS.

Erdoğan and Aliyev will meet today in Nakhijevan.

Peskov also defended Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh, describing them as “heroically” carrying out their mandate as stated in the November 2020 Karabakh ceasefire agreement.

“No one can reprimand the peacekeepers for doing something wrong. We will never agree with such reproaches," said Peskov.

Yesterday, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan again blamed Russian peacekeepers of failing to carry out their obligations in Karabakh and accused certain Armenian allies of undermining Armenia’s independence and sovereignty.

Diplomatic tensions between Yerevan and Moscow have flared of late with each side accusing the other of straying from their alliance obligations.

"Armenia remains our ally, a friendly state, Peskov said, adding Moscow will continue to work with Yerevan to preserve all the rights of Karabakh Armenians.