U.S. urges leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan to avoid ?tensions

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks on his phone before a press conference at the North American Leaders' Summit in Ottawa, Canada June 29, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in separate calls on Thursday with the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, noted the ceasefire in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh had largely held in recent weeks and urged the leaders to avoid tensions, the State Department said.

Kerry asked the presidents to fulfil commitments they made to advance the peace process at a May 16 meeting in Vienna and a June 20 meeting in St. Petersburg, the department said in a statement.