Azerbaijan has received formal answers from Russia regarding the December 2024 downing of an AZAL passenger aircraft over Grozny, a senior Azerbaijani official said in Brussels.
In an exclusive interview with EU Today and a small group of reporters, Hikmet Hajiyev – Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department – confirmed that Baku obtained Moscow’s responses during the most recent meeting in Dushanbe.
Hajiyev acknowledged that “certain misunderstandings” and “emotions” followed immediately after the incident, but said the issue was fully addressed at the subsequent meeting between the Azerbaijani and Russian leaders in Tajikistan’s capital.
“Azerbaijan expected official apologies from Russia, a full investigation, accountability for those responsible, and compensation for the downed AZAL aircraft. We have now turned the page on this misunderstanding and will continue normal, good-neighborly relations between our two countries,” he said.
