Aliyev congratulated Putin amid the crisis in relations between Moscow and Baku
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called Vladimir Putin and congratulated him on his birthday amid worsening relations between Russia and Azerbaijan.
As reported by the " Caucasian Knot ," on December 28, 2024, Vladimir Putin called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and apologized "due to the fact that the tragic incident" involving the AZAL (Azerbaijan Airlines) plane "occurred in Russian airspace." On December 29, Aliyev publicly demanded that Russia admit responsibility for the plane crash, and on January 6, he criticized the Russian authorities for refusing to admit responsibility and demanded that those responsible for the plane crash be punished.
On December 25, 2024, an Azerbaijan Airlines flight from Baku to Grozny crashed at Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Transport stated that the plane was damaged in Russian airspace as a result of an external impact. In July 2025, Aliyev announced the preparation of lawsuits in international courts, as Russia had not admitted guilt or punished those responsible for the deaths. For information on how relations between Moscow and Baku deteriorated after the crash, see the "Caucasian Knot" report " Baku-Grozny Flight Crash " and the article " Geopolitical Confrontation: What Led to the Crash of the AZAL Plane ."
Today, Ilham Aliyev called Vladimir Putin and congratulated him on his birthday, the Azerbaijani president's press service reported.
"Vladimir Putin thanked them for the congratulations. During the telephone conversation, they exchanged views on the current state and prospects of relations between Azerbaijan and Russia," according to a post on the Russian-language version of the Azerbaijani president's website.
As a reminder, on September 3, Putin and Aliyev met in Beijing at celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, but they refrained from speaking, limiting themselves to greetings. "President Aliyev and I greeted him and his wife today. We exchanged a few words ," Putin said that day.
He noted that "in relations between countries, questions always arise, based on the current situation or political circumstances, and there are problems." "But I believe that the fundamental relationship between Azerbaijan and Russia and the mutual interest in their development will ultimately put everything in its place," Putin stated.
The latest deterioration in relations between the two countries has been marked by ethnic raids in Russia and retaliatory detentions of Russians in Azerbaijan. Baku accuses Russian authorities of extrajudicial killings of Azerbaijanis, and footage of the brutal detention of Russians in Baku appears to be a demonstrative response to Moscow's actions, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report " Crisis in Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia ."
On September 4, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Russia had fully compensated for the plane and transferred insurance payments to most of the families of the victims. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry countered that insurance payments and compensation should not be confused .
Compensation payments for the downing of a foreign aircraft are customary in international relations, subject to the admission of fault for the disaster. Russia chose not to admit fault , but to treat the AZAL plane crash as an accident, which is why the insurance payments are being made, lawyers noted.
Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/416100
![Tumso Abdurakhmanov. Screenshot from video posted by Abu-Saddam Shishani [LIVE] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIR3s7AB0Uw](/system/uploads/article_image/image/0001/18460/main_image_Tumso.jpg "Tumso Abdurakhmanov. Screenshot from video posted by Abu-Saddam Shishani [LIVE] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIR3s7AB0Uw")