Vladimir Putin issued a joint call with Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron for Armenians and Azerbaijanis to halt their worst fighting in decades over disputed land.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan set himself against the three powers, which act as the so-called Minsk Group of mediators that have tried without success to resolve the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for nearly three decades. The Minsk Group's search for a truce is "unacceptable" and the conflict will only end when Armenian forces have left Azerbaijani territory, he told Turkey's parliament.
"We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities between the armed forces of the parties involved," the Russian president and his U.S. and French counterparts said in their joint statement, the highest-level intervention in the crisis since it started Sunday. The leaders "condemn in the strongest terms the escalation of violence" over Nagorno-Karabakh, according to the statement on the Kremlin's website.
The diplomatic confrontation adds to tensions between Russia and Turkey over proxy conflicts in Syria and Libya. Russia has an army base in Armenia and the two nations have a mutual-defense pact, though it doesn't cover the disputed territory. Azerbaijan, which has close historical and linguistic ties to Turkey, hosted large-scale joint exercises with the Turkish military last month.
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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has vowed to continue the fight until Armenian forces leave Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts that were taken during a war after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.
Armenia says it's defending Nagorno-Karabakh's right to self-determination after its Armenian majority declared independence. Aliyev says his forces are fighting to restore control over land internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
Armenia has accused Turkey of military involvement alongside Azerbaijan and asked the international community to help. Ankara and Baku deny Turkish forces are taking part in combat.
The violence is more intense and widespread than at any time since Russia brokered a 1994 cease-fire to halt the war that killed about 30,000 and displaced more than a million people. It has shown little sign of easing.