UN, 19 September 2014 – Two months after the crash of a Malaysia Airlines flight over Ukraine that killed 298 people on board, the top United Nations political official updated the Security Council on developments related to the investigation of the incident.
“While the cease-fire in south-eastern Ukraine, thus far, is holding, contributing to a marked de-escalation on the ground, the conditions are still not conducive for investigators to have full and unfettered access to the site,” said Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman.
Washington. The leaders of the world's major developed economies condemned Russia for destabilizing Ukraine on Wednesday and warned it faces still tougher sanctions if it does not change course, AFP reported.
"Russia still has the opportunity to choose the path of de-escalation, which would lead to the removal of these sanctions," the G7 powers said, in a joint statement released by the White House.
"If it does not do so, however, we remain ready to further intensify the costs of its adverse actions."
The G7 - Britain, France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States - issued the statement one day after Washington and the European Union announced increased sanctions on Moscow.
EU sanctions against Russia must be stepped up, the
Ukrainian border closed to halt arms flows from Russia, and the bodies
of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash victims returned, MEPs insisted
in today’s debate with Ukraine’s foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin. Mr
Klimkin called on the EU to show its solidarity now, as Ukraine is
“being punished for its EU aspirations”. The debate opened with a
minute’s silence for victims of the 17 July crash.
The Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed within the operating zone
of the Ukrainian army’s self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air Buk
missile systems, the Russian military said Monday.
"The flight scheme indicates that the plane’s route and possible
point of destruction fall into the operational range of Buk air defense
systems deployed by the Ukrainian armed forces,” Lt. Gen. Andrei
Kartapolov, the head of the Main Operations Directorate of the HQ of
Russia’s military forces, said during a media conference in Moscow.
Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday it was baffled by several countries imposing pressure on investigators by voicing their theories about the causes of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing-777 crash in eastern Ukraine.
"It is baffling that even before the start of the investigation, official representatives of a range of countries rushed to groundlessly announce their theories on the causes of the accident, thus putting pressure on the investigation process. The Russian side addresses both sides of the Ukrainian conflict with an urgent call to do everything possible for the access of international experts to the area of the plane crash to carry out all the actions necessary to investigate the mentioned air crash," the ministry said in a statement.
A Malaysian airliner was brought down over eastern Ukraine, killing
all 295 people aboard and sharply raising the stakes in a conflict
between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels in which Russia and the West back
opposing sides.
Ukraine accused "terrorists" - fighters aiming to unite eastern
Ukraine with Russia - of shooting down the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777
with a heavy, Soviet-era SA-11 ground-to-air missile as it flew from
Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
Leaders of the rebel Donetsk People's Republic denied any
involvement, although around the same time their military commander said
his forces had downed a much smaller Ukrainian transport plane. It
would be their third such kill this week.