A complicated conflict in a faraway foreign land isn't likely to compete for attention, but American citizens and policymakers should heed on the spiraling violence in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

Most profoundly, for humanitarian reasons: The fighting is the fiercest since initial post-Soviet era war started in the 1990s, in the ethnic Armenia enclave in western Azerbaijan.

Today, the enmity is just as intense, but the weaponry is more lethal. Drones and more powerful artillery are being deployed against combatants and civilians alike. To date, more than 700 soldiers and an undetermined number of citizens of Armenian descent have been killed. Azerbaijan has not officially reported its casualty count, but it's likely to be high, too. And scores more have been uprooted from their homes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conflict is geopolitically consequential, too. It's already devolved into a proxy fight between Russia, which backs Armenia (but has also sold arms to Azerbaijan,) and Turkey, which backs Azerbaijan. And because Turkey is a NATO nation, Western allies can't afford to let domestic distractions detract from diplomatic efforts that are essential to at least get to a durable cease-fire, let alone a lasting accord.

A diplomatic international infrastructure is already in place via the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Minsk Group, in which co-chairs Russia, France and the U.S. have long sought a negotiated Nagorno-Karabakh solution. Washington has joined Moscow and Paris in calls for a cease-fire and negotiations, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to separately meet with his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts on Friday.

Indeed, on humanitarian and geopolitical grounds, the conflict is not only relevant, but essential, and the rest of the world, led in part by the U.S., can and should help prevent further bloodshed in an already shaken world.

Written by the editorial board of the Star Tribune (Minneapolis).