On October 9, a one-on-one meeting was held in Dushanbe between the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. The main topic was the crash of an AZAL aircraft as a result of external interference. Putin suggested starting the meeting with this issue and once again extended his deepest condolences to the families of the deceased. Putin recalled that he had apologized for the tragedy occurring over Russian airspace.
The Russian President also emphasized that a legal assessment would be given to the actions of all officials involved in the incident, and all factors contributing to the crash would be objectively investigated.
He also noted that appropriate steps would be taken regarding compensation.
It should be recalled that the crash occurred on December 25 near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan. Of the 67 people on board the aircraft, 38 died, and 29 survived. According to preliminary information, the aircraft crashed as a result of physical and technical external interference that occurred in Russian airspace over Grozny.
In a statement to Modern.az, Rasim Musabayov, a member of the Azerbaijan-Russia Inter-Parliamentary Working Group of the Milli Majlis, stated that Putin's admission regarding the downing of the aircraft would have a positive impact on preventing further deterioration of relations and on the continuation of mutually beneficial projects:
“I do not believe that relations can return to their previous state solely with this meeting. I think that Putin's admission regarding the downing of the aircraft, while preventing the deterioration of relations, could have a positive impact on the continuation of mutually beneficial projects in bilateral relations.”
The deputy emphasized that Russia can be considered to have already apologized:
“Currently, there are issues of providing compensation and punishing those responsible for the incident. Moreover, their responsibilities have also been increased. In any case, positive steps are being taken by Russia in these directions. In any case, Azerbaijan does not deem it necessary for relations to remain artificially tense. If Russia admits its guilt and takes all necessary steps, I believe that the deterioration of our relations can almost certainly be prevented. The issues of what to rectify and what steps to take forward are matters for later.”
