By Reuters: Russia said on Wednesday it had appointed one of its most senior army commanders to lead a peacekeeping force in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, as tensions rise again between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Russian peacekeepers were deployed in 2020 to end a war over Nagorno-Karabakh, the second that Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought since the 1991 Soviet collapse. The mountain enclave is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated mainly by ethnic Armenians.

The Russian armed forces said the peacekeepers were now headed by Colonel-General Alexander Lentsov, deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian ground forces. He replaces Major-General Andrei Volkov, a more junior officer.

No reason was given for the change, announced hours after a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Armenia has voiced increasing frustration that the Russian force has failed to keep open the Lachin corridor, the only land route that links it to Karabakh across Azerbaijani territory.