Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev for the accident with the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger aircraft that occurred in Russian airspace.
"Vladimir Putin apologized for the fact that the tragic accident occurred in Russian airspace,” the statement said.
The Russian leader also expressed deep condolences over the accident and wished a speedy recovery to those who survived it.
On Saturday, December 28, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev called each other regarding the crash of the AZAL airplane.
The Embraer 190 plane of Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on the morning of December 25. The aircraft was supposed to fly from Baku to Grozny, but due to bad weather conditions it was redirected to Makhachkala (Dagestan). The pilot eventually decided to land the plane in Aktau, but the aircraft crashed.