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MOSCOW/WASHINGTON. – Since the crash of the Russian Airbus A321 over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula last weekend, Russia and the United States have obviously adopted different attitudes towards a possible cause of the accident.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that none of the assumptions related to the crash could be confirmed yet as the investigation is still underway.

“Only the investigation may put forward some theories of the accident. We haven’t had any statements from the investigation so far,” Peskov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

The Sinai-based group “Sinai State” that had announced loyalty to the IS said in a statement posted on Twitter that its militants managed to target the Russian plane and killed all its passengers.

It said the attack was in revenge for Russia’s military operations in Syria, but Moscow has dismissed the claim as incredible.

On the other hand, US President Barack Obama said on the same day that there was a “possibility” that the crashed Russian plane was caused by a bomb aboard.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said at a press briefing that the US cannot rule out the possibility of “terrorist involvement” in the downing of the Russia jet.

In London, British Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters when he hosted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that it was “more likely than not that it was a terrorist bomb” which caused the crash.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond also said there existed “a significant possibility that the crash was caused by an explosive device on board the aircraft”.

Besides speculation on possible cause of the plane crash, some other countries have also expressed worries about the safety of flights over the routes concerned.

France urged travelers to avoid the Sinai Peninsula after the Russian plane allegedly exploded in mid-air after leaving the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh killing all 224 people on board, a government official said on Thursday.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said the ministry’s advice to French travellers going abroad was “updated according to changing conditions on the ground”.

The British government decided to delay flights due to leave Sharm el-Sheikh for Britain on Wednesday evening.

10 Downing Street said it made the announcement as a precautionary measure.

The Egyptian authorities voiced concern and unhappiness on Thursday about the British suspension of flights in light of the tragedy.

“The Egyptian Tourism Ministry regrets the decision of the British government to suspend its flights to Sharm el-Sheikh and to link the decision to the recent Russian plane crash,” the ministry’s spokeswoman Rasha al-Azaizi said in a statement.

China and some other countries have extended condolences over the deaths in the crash.

“The Chinese people stand side by side with the Russian people at this sorrowful moment,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Monday.

The Russian airliner crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Saturday while heading from Sharm el-Sheikh airport to St Petersburg. All 224 people on board, mostly Russian tourists, were killed.

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin has agreed with the Federal Security Service to halt all Russian flights to Egypt following the plane crash.

“As long as we haven’t established the causes of the incident, I consider it appropriate to suspend the flights of Russian aircraft to Egypt. This primarily applies to the tourist flow,” FSB director Aleksandr Bortnikov told a meeting of the Russian Anti-Terror Committee yesterday.

Egypt has provided Russian investigators with access to all the fragments of the crashed plane as well as the baggage, he said. There is need for “absolute objectivity” and “confirmed data” to establish the causes of the disaster, he added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin agreed with the recommendations of the Federal Security Service (FSB). He added that Putin had instructed the government to ensure the safe return of Russian citizens from Egypt and to co-operate with the Egyptian authorities on establishing air traffic security.

The flights will be suspended until a “proper level of air communication security” is established, he said.

Peskov said that the decision to suspend flights was “solely connected with security” reasons, and doesn’t suggest that Moscow considers the A321 crash to be a terrorist attack.

Around 45 000 Russians are currently on holiday in Egypt, TASS cited figures provided by Russia’s tourism agency.

An operational HQ headed by deputy PM Arkady Dvorkovich and under Russia’s tourism watchdog, Rostourism, will be resolving issues connected with the return of Russian citizens from Egypt, according to a statement by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Meanwhile, Dvorkovich said that up to 70 000 Russian citizens are currently in Egypt, adding that authorities are not planning an “immediate evacuation.”

“Swabs and scrapings from all fragments of the [crashed] plane, baggage and soil have been taken by Russian experts,” said the head of the Russian Emergencies Service, Vladimir Puchkov, during the meeting. – Xinhua-RT.