Aliyev will not participate in the informal summit in St. Petersburg

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev will not participate in the informal CIS summit to be held on December 22 in St. Petersburg.

The Administration of the President of Azerbaijan explained the reasons for Aliyev's non-participation in the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council on December 21 and today's informal CIS summit.

President Ilham Aliyev did not participate in the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council held on December 21 because Azerbaijan is not a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, according to a statement from the administration of the Azerbaijani head of state.

Regarding the informal Summit of CIS Heads of State, Aliyev "will not be able to participate due to a dense work schedule."

At the same time, the administration recalled that "the Republic of Azerbaijan, as a member state, regularly participates in official CIS summits and attaches great importance to cooperation within the CIS framework, including the development of bilateral relations with member states."

President Ilham Aliyev participated in the meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State held on October 9-10 this year in Dushanbe (Tajikistan). "The meetings held within the framework of the session, both on a bilateral and multilateral level, were productive," the message concludes.

It should be noted that the President of Azerbaijan has not visited Russia since the "plane crisis" caused by the crash of an AZAL aircraft performing the Baku-Grozny flight.

On December 25, 2024, an Azerbaijan Airlines flight from Baku to Grozny crashed at the airport in the Kazakh city of Aktau, killing 38 people. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Transport stated that the aircraft was damaged in Russian airspace as a result of external impact.

Baku demanded an apology from the Russian side, payment of compensation, and punishment of those responsible. Failure to meet these conditions led to tension in bilateral relations.

On October 9, during a meeting with Aliyev in Dushanbe, Putin admitted the destruction of the aircraft as a result of the operation of Russian air defense systems.

However, according to him, the two missiles launched by the Russian air defense system did not hit the AZAL plane directly but exploded several meters away.

According to the Russian president, "the liner was likely struck by debris rather than by striking combat elements." He noted that the causes of the air crash were also related to the presence of a Ukrainian drone in the sky.

Putin reminded his Azerbaijani colleague that he had apologized for the fact that the air crash occurred in the skies over Russia (this occurred in a telephone conversation on December 28, when Putin apologized for the incident happening in Russian airspace). The Russian leader once again expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the AZAL crash, noting that Russia is providing all possible assistance to the investigation.

However, since then, there has been no information regarding anyone in the Russian Federation being held accountable for the destruction of the aircraft.

Additionally, compensation has not been paid to the families of the deceased or the survivors of the disaster. (Compensation was paid only by a Russian insurance company as part of general flight insurance; no compensation has been paid for the destruction of the aircraft as a result of external impact).

Following the meeting between Aliyev and Putin on December 9, a mutual release of detainees took place.

Baku released the heads of the "Sputnik Azerbaijan" agency, while Moscow released two representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora.

At the same time, Moscow continues to hold about a dozen representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg and other regions.

In Azerbaijan, about 10 citizens remain in custody on charges of illegal drug trafficking.