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Top Russian, Azeri diplomats note importance of careful investigation into plane crash

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the two top diplomats "stressed the need to establish all the causes of the incident and take urgent measures to prevent such situations in the future as well as to completely and fully settle the aftermath, taking into account all circumstances"

MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov, in a phone conversation, have noted the importance of the most careful investigation into the crash of a passenger plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines near Aktau in Kazakhstan on December 25.

"To continue a conversation between the Russian and Azerbaijani presidents, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev, that took place on the same day, the ministers discussed the development of events related to the December 25 crash of a passenger plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines near Aktau in Kazakhstan," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement following the phone conversation between the two top diplomats.

"Having confirmed the agreements reached by the two presidents with regard to the need to ensure the most careful investigation into this tragic incident, the two ministers expressed their deepest condolences to the families of those killed and wished the swiftest recovery to those injured," the Russian foreign policy agency added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the two top diplomats "stressed the need to establish all the causes of the incident and take urgent measures to prevent such situations in the future as well as to completely and fully settle the aftermath, taking into account all circumstances," the Russian foreign policy agency noted.

The agency added that Lavrov and Bayramov also "exchanged opinions with regard to upcoming Russian-Azerbaijani interaction at the top and high levels."

The Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190, en route from Baku to Grozny, crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on December 25. The plane carried 67 people, including 62 passengers, mainly citizens of Azerbaijan, as well as nationals of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and five crew members. According to the latest reports, 38 people, including seven Russians, were killed, while 29 others survived. A special flight sent by Russia’s Emergencies Ministry has transported nine Russian citizens, including a child, injured in the air crash, from Aktau.

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