By Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn and Nailia Bagirova MOSCOW/BAKU (Reuters) -President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologised to Azerbaijan's leader for what the Kremlin called a "tragic incident" over Russia in which an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed after Russian air defences were fired against Ukrainian drones.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia told the Azerbaijani leader, Ilham Aliyev, in a phone call, “that the tragic incident took place in Russian airspace.”

Vladimir Putin has apologised for the Azerbaijan Airlines crash but stopped short of accepting responsibility for what he described as a “tragic incident.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to discuss the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash that killed 38 people, the Kremlin reported on Dec. 28. The Kremlin press service released a briefing detailing a call between Putin and Aliyev,

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to the President of Azerbaijan for the crash of the civilian airliner that killed 38 people, the Kremlin said Saturday, stopping short of admitting responsibility.

Russian President Vladimir Putin extended an apology to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on Saturday over a "tragic incident" involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed in Russian airspace on Wednesday.

The AZAL passenger plane went down in Kazakhstan due to external interference. They were received when the plane was in Russian airspace, states Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Aliyev noted that the passenger plane of Azerbaijan Airlines,

Putin says Azerbaijani passenger aircraft made multiple attempts to land in city of Grozny at time of Ukraine's drone attack - Anadolu Ajansı

Russia's Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologised to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, for a "tragic incident" which happened in Russian airspace involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed on Wednesday.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the "tragic incident" involving the Azerbaijan Airlines plane. However, the dictator did not acknowledge the downing of the aircraft,

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the deadly Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 crash on Christmas but did not take responsibility for causing it as an investigation continues into the matter.