MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko and EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar held a phone call to discuss the escalation in several sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

"The escalation in some areas of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border was discussed. The armed clashes that took place are of great concern. The solution of all problems exclusively by political and diplomatic methods was emphasized," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent Syunik region in Armenia deteriorated dramatically in November. The sides regularly report armed incidents, including those entailing human casualties. On November 13, Yerevan and Baku exchanged accusations of shelling each other’s army positions. Apart from that, the situation is tense at the sections of the highway linking Armenia and Iran that came over under Baku’s control under the November 9, 2020, statement by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijani and Russia and where Russian border guards set up a post to ensure the free movement of people and motor vehicles.

Fighting erupted at the Azerbaijani-Armenian border between the armed forces of the two countries on November 16. In the wake of these hostilities, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu alternately held telephone talks with his counterparts from Armenia and Azerbaijan. As the press office of the Russian Defense Ministry reported, following these talks the defense ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia took measures to stabilize the situation at the border. These steps helped normalize the border situation.