Presidents of Turkey and Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin meet in Tehran on July 19

President Vladimir Putin of Russia discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting in Tehran on Tuesday.

“Of course, we also have another important issue in our periphery and that is the settlement of the Karabakh conflict,” Putin told Erdogan adding that he met with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan recent on the sidelines of the Caspian Forum, news agencies reported.

Earlier in the day, Erdogan met with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who warned the Turkish leader against any plans to block the Iran-Armenia border.

In his meeting with Erdogan, Putin voiced confidence that relations between Moscow and Ankara will continue to advance despite the events in the region and sounded an optimistic tone about turnover of goods and trade between the two countries.

It was reported earlier that Putin was traveling to Iran to discuss issues related to Syria, as both Iran and Turkey are stakeholders in the process.

This was Putin’s second trip abroad since the military campaign against Ukraine began in late February.

Analysts believe that Putin is attempting to consolidate power in the region, in the wake of Western sanctions against Russia because of the Ukraine conflict. Turkey, a NATO member, has consistently posed obstacles for its Western allies to advance the campaign against Russia.

The parties also discussed the Syrian issue, as well as the implementation of large bilateral projects.