MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin will continue his dialogue with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after the two leaders spoke briefly by phone on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Speaking to reporters on a conference call, Peskov said Aliyev had called Putin to congratulate him on his 68th birthday and that the two men had used the opportunity to discuss the conflict.

Putin and Aliyev had not spoken since fighting between ethnic Armenian and Azeri forces erupted on Sept. 27.