Pope calls for negotiations over Caucasus flare-up

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis greets faithful as he leaves after the weekly general audience at the Vatican, September 23, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis appealed to Armenia and Azerbaijan on Sunday to resolve their differences through negotiations following clashes over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.

"I pray for peace in the Caucasus and ask the parties in conflict to make concrete gestures of goodwill and brotherhood that can lead to the resolution of problems not with the use of force and weapons but through dialogue and negotiations," he said.