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.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday issued an apology for the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet crash in Kazakhstan that occurred earlier this week, but stopped short of claiming responsibility for it.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. They discussed the plane crash in Kazakhstan. “During the phone conversation, the heads of state continued to discuss issues related to the crash of the passenger plane of the Azerbaijan Hava Yollari Closed Joint Stock Company,