Russia’s failure to let the plane land and its refusal to take responsibility for the crash are upsetting a key partner.

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said Russia is behind the Christmas Day crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan, which killed 38 of the 67 people aboard. The motives of the incident remain unclear.

The Russian authorities have sent guidelines to the media, advising journalists to ignore any mention of the downing of an AZAL aircraft in Aktau. The case should be referred to as a tragic incident,

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said he was “upset and surprised” that Russian officials put forward murky causes instead of promptly taking responsibility.

Azerbaijani President said Sunday that the plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday "was damaged from outside on Russian territory."

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday demanded that Russia admit that it fired at an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet before it crashed, accusing Moscow of initially trying to cover up the cause of the fatal disaster.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has accused Russia of accidentally shooting down an airliner on Christmas Day in a disaster that killed 38 people, and covering up the cause.