Official website of the President of Russia

Документ   /

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Aliyev,

We saw each other briefly in Beijing not long ago. Before that, we had several telephone conversations.

I would like to begin our meeting with discussing the most sensitive topic, namely, the air tragedy that occurred in our skies. During our first telephone conversation, I not only apologised for the fact that the tragedy took place in Russia’s airspace, but expressed my deepest condolences to the families of the passengers who died in that crash as well. I would like to say those words again and reiterate that, as agreed, we are cooperating with the investigative authorities.

The investigation is nearing completion and, at this point, we can discuss the causes of this tragedy, this catastrophe. It was caused by several factors.

The first is that a Ukrainian drone was mid-air at the time of the tragedy. We were tracking three drones crossing the Russian Federation’s border during the night of the tragedy.

The second factor involves technical malfunctions in Russia’s air defence system. Two missiles that were launched did not hit the aircraft directly. Had that happened, the plane would have crashed immediately. They exploded, possibly through the self-destruction mechanism, a few metres, maybe ten metres, away from it. As a result, the damage was caused mainly not by the warheads, but most likely by missile fragments. That is why the pilot sensed the impact as a collision with a flock of birds which he reported to Russian air traffic controllers. All of that was recorded by “black boxes.” He was also advised – and this is clearly audible on the recordings – to make an emergency landing in Makhachkala, but he decided instead to return to his home base and then to Kazakhstan. Nevertheless, this is the fact.

This is what caused the tragedy. All of this is documented following a thorough analysis of the technical data and a second-by-second review of the black box recordings.

You and I have discussed this issue on a later occasion. Naturally, the Russian side will do everything that must be done in these tragic circumstances, including compensation payments and a legal assessment of the actions of all officials involved.

Of course, these words of support and sympathy for the families affected by this tragedy cannot solve the main problem. They cannot bring back the people who lost their lives.

To reiterate, our duty – we agreed on this from the very beginning – is to provide an objective assessment of the events and identify the true causes. However, that needs time. We will need more time before we can put this matter to bed. Overall, I outlined the information I received literally on the eve of this meeting, yesterday and the day before. Frankly, I called Moscow last night for more details. I have shared with you practically everything I know myself. This is my first point.

Secondly, I would like to note that, despite this, our mutual interests in many spheres coincide and are closely aligned. First and foremost, this naturally concerns trade and economic ties. Despite the nuances related to this tragedy, which I have just mentioned, and certain matters arising in connection with it, trade and economic relations have continued to develop successfully. Last year, we saw an increase of approximately six percent, and this year trade turnover has already grown by more than 16 percent. This is a very good indicator.

Thanks to your attention to this matter, our cultural ties have always remained at a high level. But we will discuss this further shortly. And we are: a) grateful to you for this; and b) naturally, for our part, we will do everything to ensure this positive dynamic continues.

Of course, our foreign ministries have always worked very closely together on the situation in the region and the broader situation on international platforms. I hope this cooperation will not merely be restored but will continue in the spirit of our relations, in the spirit of our alliance. We never forget this; we remember the treaty that was signed not long ago, and for our part, we will do everything to implement all its key provisions.

Thank you.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much, Mr Putin.

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude for this meeting. As you noted, we had a brief conversation in Beijing, and just two days ago, I called you on your birthday. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you once again and wish you all the best, as well as to your loved ones and the friendly people of Russia.

Of course, special thanks for this detailed information regarding the tragedy last December, when an Azerbaijani airliner crashed. We were in immediate contact. As you recall, on that tragic day, I was flying to a meeting in St Petersburg and called you directly from the plane when I was informed of the incident, and we expressed our condolences to each other. I also asked you to convey to our colleagues, who were participating in the event, that due to objective reasons, I would be unable to attend the informal CIS summit.

I would also like to thank you for personally overseeing this situation. We have exchanged views repeatedly, and members of our teams remain in constant contact. You are personally monitoring the progress of the investigation, and we had no doubt that it would examine everything objectively. Therefore, I would like to once again express my gratitude that you deemed it necessary to address this matter during our meeting.

As you noted, not only have trade and economic ties developed successfully this year, but all other areas of our relations have also progressed. As you mentioned, there is positive momentum in trade growth. Similarly, there has been no slowdown or regression in all other domains. On the contrary, the roadmaps we approved are being successfully implemented.

The Russian-Azerbaijani intergovernmental commission also met relatively recently, where the co-chairs discussed a wide range of issues in detail, not limited to trade and economic matters.

Naturally, today provides a good opportunity to revisit our agenda, which is quite extensive and positive. So once again, thank you for this information, and I am confident that the messages we are sending today to our societies will also be received positively.

<…>