President Putin apologised “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace” stopped short of admitting responsibility for the incident
The UK has called for an independent investigation into the downing of an Azerbaijani plane thought to have been caused by a Russian missile.
Russian air defences have been blamed for downing an Azerbaijan Airlines flight on Christmas Day (Administration of the Mangystau Region via AP)
President Vladimir Putin apologised “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace” during a call with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Saturday.