Russian, U.S. and French presidents ask Armenia and Azerbaijan to stop war

Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron called for an immediate ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia around Nagorno-Karabakh and urged the rival sides to return to negotiations without delay, according to the Kremlin website.

According to the statement, they condemn in the strongest terms the recent escalation of violence along the Line of Contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.

They also expressed condolences to the families of those killed in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in their joint statement. 

"We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities between the relevant military forces," the French, Russia and U.S. presidents said in a joint statement in their capacity as co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"We also call on the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to commit without delay to resuming substantive negotiations, in good faith and without preconditions, under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs," the statement reads.

The Armenian armed forces committed a large-scale provocation, subjecting the positions of the Azerbaijani army to intensive shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibers in the front-line zone on Sept. 27 at 05:00 (Msk). The command of the Azerbaijani Army decided to launch a counter-offensive operation of Azerbaijani troops along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population. Seven villages of Fizuli and Jabrayil districts, key heights near Talysh, as well as Murovdag were liberated.