Earlier in the day, Armenia and Azerbaijan noted a sharp escalation of the situation in the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh area, with both sides accusing each other of violating the ceasefire that has been in place since 1994.
"Developing the Russian president's reaction to the resumed hostilities on the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as Russia's steps toward deescalating the situation that involves contacts with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Sergei Lavrov held talks with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia and urged for influencing the situation to stop the violence," the ministry told RIA Novosti.
Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed concern over the situation, noting that Russian and international mediation efforts have been successful in making a final settlement possible. The Russian Foreign Ministry has begun consultations with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group on conflict settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh, the ministry said earlier on Saturday.
The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988, when the Armenian-dominated autonomous region sought to secede from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, before proclaiming independence after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. In September 2015, the conflict escalated, with the sides blaming each other for violating the truce.
