A White House official said the US has seen "early indications" that the fatal crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane was caused by a Russian air defense system. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday that the US has "seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems.

There are early indications that a Russian anti-aircraft system may have struck the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, a U.S. official told ABC News.

Azerbaijani intelligence has blamed Russia for the crash, with Euronews reporting on intelligence from anonymous Azerbaijani government sources that said the plane was not given permission to land in Russia despite requesting an emergency landing.