U.S. President Joe Biden said on Dec. 28 that Russian President Vladimir Putin's apology over a deadly Azerbaijan Airline crash appears to acknowledge Moscow's responsibility for the disaster.
The plane was flying from Baku to Grozny in Russia's republic of Chechnya when it changed course and crashed in Kazakhstan on Dec. 25, killing 38 people. Azerbaijani officials reportedly believe that the aircraft was damaged by Russian air defenses while flying over Chechnya.
In a rare move, Putin called his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, to apologize "for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace" without commenting on whether the plane was hit by Russian air defenses.
Responding to a question on whether Putin should acknowledge responsibility, Biden responded: "Apparently, he did, but I haven't spoken to him or my team."
The White House said on Dec. 27 it saw signs of the airliner being shot down by Russian air defenses, while Azerbaijan's Transport Ministry said the plane was subjected to "external interference" as it attempted to land in Grozny.
"All (the survivors) without exception stated they heard three blast sounds when the aircraft was above Grozny," Azerbaijani Transport Minister Rashad Nabiyev said.
The Kremlin said that the plane made multiple attempts to land at Grozny airport during a Ukrainian drone attack, which was reportedly repelled by Russian air defenses.
The U.K. Foreign Office called for an investigation of the disaster while adding that Putin's apology "fails to recognize that the reckless and irresponsible actions of the Russian State pose an acute and direct threat to the interests and national security of other states."
In a separate incident in July 2014, a Russian Buk air defense system operated by Russian proxy forces in eastern Ukraine downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17), killing 283 passengers and 15 crew members.
Oleg Sukhov
