Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Vladimir Putin of Russia discussed the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during a telephone conversation on Wednesday.

According to Pashinyan’s press service, the discussions about the Karabakh conflict settlement were in line with a statement made by the Armenian leaders and the Russian president after their meeting in Russia in April. On Wednesday the two discussed “particularly the possibility of activating the works of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.”

Discussing this topic has significance given that Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, while making further provocative statements last week against Armenia, declared the Karabakh conflict to be resolved, the role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to be irrelevant and furthermore adding that a place called Nagorno-Karabakh did not exist. Aliyev claimed that his assertions were agreed to during talks he held with Pashinyan in Brussels hosted by European Council President Charles Michel, who on Tuesday seemed to refute the Azerbaijani leader’s claims.

During Wednesday’s phone conversation Pashinyan reportedly shared his impressions from the latest meeting held in Brussels and expressed concerns over the comments that were made after the meeting which, he said, “had no connection with the content of the discussions.”

Putin and other top Russian officials have all but declared the OSCE Minsk Group process dead, given the crippling sanctions placed on Moscow by the United States and its European allies as a countermeasure to the military campaign against Ukraine.

Last week, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused the West of undermining Moscow’s efforts to stabilize the South Caucasus region by advancing several measures to establish peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

According to Pashinyan’s press office, Putin welcomed the first meeting of the commission on border delimitation and security between Armenia and Azerbaijan and reaffirmed Russia’s readiness to assist the border demarcation process. A second meeting of that commission is scheduled to take place in Moscow.

“Pashinyan and Putin also touched upon the issue of opening the regional communications, and an agreement was reached to activate the works of the trilateral working group,” said the read out from the prime minister’s office, which explained that the phone conversation was on the occasion of Pashinyan’s birthday.

According to the Kremlin, Putin held a separate conversation with Aliyev on Wednesday at the latter’s request. According to the official Russian readout of the call, the two discussed last week’s talks in Brussels between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan.