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Putin invites Aliyev to discuss AZAL plane crash

The Russian president also said that he and Aliyev had recently seen each other "briefly" in Beijing, and had spoken on the phone several times prior to that

DUSHANBE, October 9. /TASS/. Opening their meeting today, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev that they begin by discussing the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane.

"I would like to start our meeting with the most sensitive topic – the aviation tragedy that occurred in our skies. And even then, in a telephone conversation, I apologized for the fact that this tragedy occurred in Russian skies. And I expressed my most sincere condolences to the families of the victims," Putin told Aliyev.

The Russian president also said that he and Aliyev had recently seen each other "briefly" in Beijing, and had spoken on the phone several times prior to that.

About the crash

The Embraer 190 passenger plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, flying from Baku to Grozny, crashed on December 25 near the Kazakh city of Aktau. It had 67 people on board - 62 passengers and five crew, including citizens of Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. According to the latest data, 29 people survived. There were 16 Russian citizens among the passengers. Nine of them survived, and were later taken to Moscow and federal medical institutions for treatment.