Azerbaijan's Aliyev apologises to Putin for death of Russian servicemen -Kremlin

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev apologised in a phone call on Thursday to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the death of Russian peacekeeping troops in Nagorno-Karabakh the previous day, the Kremlin said.

It said Putin had stressed the importance of safeguarding the security and rights of ethnic Armenians in the breakaway region, which was forced into a surrender after a lightning offensive by Azerbaijan.

The peacekeepers were killed when their car was fired on as they drove away from an observation post, Russia had said.