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The Russian government says it is premature to blame the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levante (also known as ISIS) for the Russian passenger jet that crashed over the weekend. Metrojet Flight 9268 crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board, shortly after taking off from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh. The plane was en route to St. Petersburg, Russia.

United States intelligence analysis have suggested that the jihadist extremist group’s affiliates in the Sinai Peninsula planted a bomb on the plane. British Prime Minister David Cameron, who is currently the host of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in the United Kingdom, said it was “more likely than not” that a bomb brought down the Airbus A321.

"We cannot be certain that the Russian airliner was brought down by a terrorist bomb, but it looks increasingly likely that that was the case," Cameron said.

British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond also stated that the UK government believes there is a "significant possibility" an explosive device caused the crash.

However, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, has said "Theories about what happened and the causes of the incident can only be pronounced by the investigation.” Russia is conducting its own investigation on what caused the plane crash.

"So far, we have heard nothing (like this) from the investigation. Any kind of similar assumptions like this are based on information that has not been checked or are speculation," Peskov said

Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister, Hossam Kamal, has also dismissed the theory that an explosive device was planted on the plane. "The investigation team does not have yet any evidence or data confirming this hypothesis," Kamal said.

Aviation officials say the plane debris was scattered across an area of eight square kilometres. This has led officials to believe the plane broke up midair. In the bodies of some of the victims were found pieces of metals suggesting a strong explosion must have occurred.
 
Although ISIS has openly claimed responsibility for the plane crash, a U.S. official reportedly said the intelligence that links the crash to ISIS is partly based on internal conversions of the terrorist group that are being monitored.

Egyptian President el-Sisi’s crackdown on extremists has been blamed for a hike in radicalism in Egypt, where there has been an escalation of terrorism as hundreds of Egyptian soldiers have been killed at the Sinai Peninsula by militants in the region. In September, Egyptian armed forces opened fire on a convoy of Mexican tourists, killing at least 12 and injuring many others. According to reports, it was a case of mistaken identity as the forces said they received information the vehicles were transporting terrorists.  

The Islamic State militants have also declared war against Russia and the United States for air strikes carried out by the two governments in Syria. Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands have suspended all flights to and from Sharm al-Sheikh, resort city where the ill-fated flight originated.

RIA Novosti, a major Russian news agency reported that on the decision of the United Kingdom to suspend flights to and from the Egyptian resort city, a senior Russian lawmaker said Britain's decision is motivated by Britain's “geopolitical opposition” to Russia's actions in Syria.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Russian planes were still flying to and from Sharm al‐Sheikh.