Putin and Macron discuss Nagorno-Karabakh during phone call

Russian President Vladimir Putin and French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh during a phone call, their offices said in statements on Tuesday.

The two leaders, who co-chair with the United States the so-called Minsk group in charge of mediating between Armenia and Azerbaijan, said they agreed the two South Caucasian countries should relaunch “substantial negotiations”, the Elysee said.

Macron also asked Putin to reinforce Franco-Russian cooperation in the fight against terrorism and clandestine immigration, the French statement said.

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. To date, Fizuli and Jabrayil districts, including the cities of Jabrayil and Fizuli, the city of Hadrut and a number of villages in the Khojavend region, the villages of Sugovushan and Talish in the Terter region, as well as the strategically important Murovdag mountain were liberated.