On April 15, the Foreign Ministries of Azerbaijan and Russia issued a joint statement on the shooting down of Azerbaijani Airlines flight 8243 by Russian air defense systems in December 2024, killing 38 people. The tragedy, compounded by Moscow’s denial of responsibility, had triggered a sharp deterioration in Azerbaijani-Russian relations. Baku escalated its rhetoric against Moscow, suspended bilateral cooperation across multiple sectors, and worked toward rapprochement with the European Union and the US.