MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and France’s Emmanuel Macron called for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces around the Nagorno-Karabakh region following a call, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

The parties discussed future steps the Minsk OSCE group could take to de-escalate the conflict in the region and called for the conflict to be resolved by diplomatic means, the statement said.

A French Presidency source said the two presidents shared the same concern regarding Turkey’s sending of Syrian fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Russia’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Syrian and Libyan fighters from illegal armed groups were being sent to the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

(Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya and Katya Golubkova; additional reporting by Elisabeth Pineau, Dominique Vidalon Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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