Russian Ministers Urge Baku, Yerevan to End Hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh

The Russian defense and foreign ministers contacted the defense ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan and reiterated President Vladimir Putin's call to stop violence in Nagorno-Karabakh.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that he and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had contacted their counterparts in Baku and Yerevan to express concerns over the conflict unfolding in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Minister Shoigu and I contacted our colleagues in Baku and Yerevan — the foreign and defense ministers of both countries. We expressed our grave concern and reiterated the Russian president's call to immediately stop violating the ceasefire regime," Lavrov told reporters.

"We hope that our calls were heard," he added.

On April 2, Azerbaijan and Armenia reported intensified fighting in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The sides accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement which had been in place since 1994.

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 breaching the truce.