Washington: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has stated that Azerbaijan does not believe the downing of Azerbaijan Airlines flight number 8243 was a deliberate attack. President Aliyev made these remarks during an interview with U.S. television channel Fox News while visiting the United States, APA reports.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, President Aliyev discussed Azerbaijan’s relations with Russia and addressed the December 2024 incident involving the downing of the AZAL plane. He emphasized that Azerbaijan’s position is that the attack was not intentional but stressed the importance of accountability.

“The only thing that we demanded was to admit that, punish those who committed that crime, even if it was not intentional, and pay compensation to the victims and to the airline,” President Aliyev asserted. The Azerbaijani leader’s comments highlight the expectation for justice and reparations despite the absence of intentional malice.