Russian President Vladimir Putin had a new telephone conversation with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday, during which the leaders continued discussing various issues related to the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Aktau. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Interfax. He did not give details of the conversation.
Putin’s press secretary’s statement came against the background of Ilham Aliyev’s interview with Azerbaijani television. In it, Aliyev said that in the first days after the disaster, Azerbaijan ‘heard nothing from Russia but delusional versions.’ He also demanded that Moscow admit guilt in the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane, punish those responsible and pay compensation.
The day before, on 28 December, Putin and Aliyev had already called each other. Then the Russian president apologised to Azerbaijan for the ‘tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace’ and expressed condolences to the families of the victims.