Moscow urges immediate cease-fire in Azerbaijan-Armenia border conflict

 Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday urged all parties involved in the military conflict along the Azerbaijan-Armenia border to cease fire immediately and exercise restraint.

The president is deeply concerned with recent reports on the renewal of hostilities along the front lines of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also called for a cessation of any kind of violence in the region.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a bitter dispute over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh seized by Armenia-backed forces from Azerbaijan in 1991. Peace talks have been held since 1994 when a cease-fire was reached.

Firefights have been frequently reported recently between the two ex-Soviet republics along their shared border and across Karabakh's volatile front line.

Source: XINHUA