Canada urges Russia to allow open, transparent investigation into Azerbaijan Airlines crash

OTTAWA, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Canada said on Thursday it was deeply concerned by reports that Russian air defense may have struck the Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed on Wednesday, and called on Moscow to allow for an open and transparent investigation into the incident.

"Canada is deeply concerned by reports that Russian Air Defence Forces may have fired a missile on Azerbaijan Airlines flight 8243 causing it to crash land," the Canadian foreign ministry said in a statement on X.

"We call on Russia to allow for an open and transparent investigation into the incident and to accept its findings," the ministry said.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Chris Reese)

((ismail.shakil@tr.com;))