Russian President Vladimir Putin took partial responsibility Thursday for the striking and downing of an Azerbaijan Airlines flight in December 2024, which killed dozens.

Speaking alongside Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in Tajikistan, Putin sought to blame Ukrainian drones that had crossed into Russian airspace on the night of the crash as well as technical failures in the Russian air defense system.

These comments marked Russia's first admission of responsibility for the crash, in an effort to ease tensions between the neighbors.

"There was a Ukrainian drone in the sky. We were tracking three such drones that crossed the Russian border on the night of the tragedy. The second reason is technical failures of the Russian air defense system itself," he said.

Putin said the missiles fired by Russian air defenses to target a Ukrainian drone exploded near the Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying from Baku as it was preparing to land in Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, on Dec. 25, 2024. Ukrainian drones have regularly struck deep inside Russia.

On Dec. 25, 2024, an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet crashed while on a flight from Baku to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.

Azeri authorities said the jet was accidentally hit by fire from Russian air defenses, then tried to land in western Kazakhstan when it crashed, killing 38 of 67 people on board.

Days after the crash, Putin apologized to Aliyev for what he called a “tragic incident” but stopped short of acknowledging responsibility. Aliyev, meanwhile, criticized Moscow for trying to “hush up” the incident.

Thursday's meeting in the Azeri capital Dushanbe was the first between the two leaders since the crash.

Aliyev thanked Putin for his "personal oversight" of the investigation.

"You are personally overseeing the investigation, and we had no doubt that it would objectively resolve everything," Aliyev added.