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Armenia–Azerbaijan conflict

Lavrov, Azerbaijani top diplomat discuss implementation of Karabakh statement

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27. On November 9, Russian President, Azerbaijani President and Armenian Prime Minister signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10

MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov held a telephone talk to discuss the implementation of a trilateral statement on Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

"The sides discussed the essential issues of the international and bilateral agenda, including the practical tasks of implementing the statement by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement," the ministry said in a statement, following the results of the foreign ministers’ phone talk.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict over the disputed territory, primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them.

On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. The Russian leader said that Azerbaijan and Armenia would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region. In addition, the Agdam, Kalbajar and Lachin districts were handed over back to Azerbaijan.

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