Russian, Azerbaijani presidents speak over phone on Nagorno-Karabakh

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke over the phone with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Saturday, the Kremlin said.

"Further steps were considered to implement the entire set of trilateral agreements of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, with an emphasis on practical issues of unblocking transport and economic ties in the region," said a Kremlin statement.

The three-way accords of 2020 and 2021 ended the 44-day second Nagorno-Karabakh War, named after the South Caucasus region that Azerbaijan liberated about two years ago from nearly three decades of Armenian occupation.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

In the fall of 2020, in 44 days of clashes, Baku liberated several cities, villages, and settlements from Armenian occupation. The peace agreement is celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.