(Reuters) - Russia on Friday summoned the Armenian ambassador for a "harsh" protest about a list of what it termed "unfriendly steps", the latest sign of strain between Moscow and the small ex-Soviet republic in a region Russia considers its back yard. He said Moscow, distracted by its war with Ukraine, had been unable to deliver and was winding down its role in the South Caucasus. Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other on Thursday of moving troops close to their joint border as tensions over the future of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave rose. The ICC issued an arrest warrant in March for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of war crimes in Ukraine. The Kremlin has dismissed the idea that Russia's actions in Ukraine could be war crimes and noted that Russia does not recognise the court.

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Persons: Vagharshak Harutyunyan, Alen Simonyan, Maria Zakharova, Nikol Pashinyan, Ilham Aliyev, Vladimir Putin, Kevin Liffey, William Maclean, Mark Heinrich Organizations: Reuters, Russian Foreign Ministry, International Criminal, Armenian National Assembly, Collective Security, Organization, Red, ICC Locations: Russia, Moscow, Soviet, United States, Ukraine, Armenia, Russian, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, South Caucasus, Caucasus, Georgia