MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/. Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev have held a phone call on Saturday, welcoming the launch of a joint Russian-Turkish Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire monitoring center on the territory of Azerbaijan and expressing hope that its launch would help stabilize the situation in the region, the Kremlin press service informed.

"President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev have welcomed the launch of the joint Russian-Turkish center for monitoring the ceasefire and all military activity in the conflict zone. They expressed hope that the center’s activity will facilitate further stabilization of the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh and the due adherence to the agreements stipulated in the joint statement of Russian and Azerbaijani presidents and the Armenian prime minister dated November 9, 2020," the message says.

Besides, the presidents have discussed some current issues of Russian-Azerbaijani bilateral cooperation.

On November 11, 2020, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Turkish colleague Hulusi Akar signed a memorandum on establishing a joint Russian-Turkish monitoring center of the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, 2020, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but 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, 2020, 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 the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region. Besides, Baku and Yerevan must exchange prisoners and the bodies of those killed.