MOSCOW -Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday that a border conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia this week had "stabilised", and a ceasefire had been in place for the last two days.

Speaking to Putin on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan, Aliyev said:

"Border conflicts happen. Unfortunately, they have been associated with numerous casualties on both sides, but the main thing is that we have managed to stabilise the situation and shift it to a peaceful course."

Putin said it was "good" that the conflict had de-escalated, but that the situation was still tense.

More than 200 service personnel were killed the clashes, according to new figures from both countries on Friday.

Armenia and Azerbaijan blame each other for the fighting, their deadliest confrontation since thousands were killed in a six-week war over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020.

  - Reuters