MOSCOW, April 7. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan discussed over phone on Friday the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh and the preparation of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Kremlin press service reported.

"Discussions on various aspects of the current situation around Nagorno-Karabakh continued," the statement said. The Kremlin noted that the importance of implementing the 2020-2022 agreements of the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, "including those related to ensuring security and stability on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, restoring economic and transport ties in the North Caucasus and preparing a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan" was reaffirmed.

"In addition, some topical issues of bilateral relations were touched upon," the press service of the Russian leader reported after the conversation, which took place at the initiative of the Armenian side.

The press service of the Armenian government also reported that Pashinyan and Putin discussed the unblocking of transport communications in the South Caucasus.

This is Putin and Pashinyan's fourth phone conversation since the start of this year, the previous one being held on March 13. The last telephone conversation between the Russian president and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev took place on March 16.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Russia has repeatedly acted as a mediator in resolving the situation between Baku and Yerevan, including hosting talks between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. With the mediation of Moscow in November 2020, a statement on the full cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh was adopted. According to the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the occupied positions, a number of areas came under Baku's control, and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the line of contact and in the Lachin corridor. Subsequently, the leaders of the three countries adopted several other joint statements on the situation in the region.