President Putin And President Tokayev Meet, Discuss On Azerbaijan Airlines Accident In Kazakhstan

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. (akorda.kz)

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Saturday (28/12) discussed an investigation into the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane crash that occurred this week near Aktau, Kazakhstan.

The telephone conversation was initiated by Russia. The two leaders expressed their condolences, according to the Kazakh President's office.

Tokayev told Putin that a government commission was investigating the crash with experts from Azerbaijan, Russia, and Brazil.

The two leaders emphasized the importance of maintaining transparency in the investigation process.

On Wednesday (12/25), the AZAL plane flying from Baku, Azerbaijan's capital, to Grozny in Chernya, Russia, had an accident in Kazakhstan.

In that incident, 38 people died while 29 others survived.

Although Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have begun investigations, Azerbaijan's officials stated that the crash was caused by Russian missiles.

The incident occurred amid Russian air defense activity against the Ukraine drone attack, as acknowledged by Putin, and GPS disruption in the region.

The government of the relevant countries has appealed to the public to wait for the official results of the investigation before drawing conclusions.

Earlier on Saturday, Putin expressed his condolences to President Azerbaijan and apologized.

Putin explained that Russia's air defense system was actively responding to the Ukraine drone attack as the plane attempted to land on Grozny before it crashed.