11:37 20.06.2019

Ukrainian MFA calls on Russia to recognize its responsibility for supply of arms, cooperate with investigation into downing of MH17 flight

2 min read
Ukrainian MFA calls on Russia to recognize its responsibility for supply of arms, cooperate with investigation into downing of MH17 flight

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine notes the importance of the results of the investigation into the crash of the Malaysian Airlines MH17 plane announced by the Joint Investigation Group (JIT) on Wednesday and calls on the Russian Federation to accept its responsibility.

"The results of investigation into the downing of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, announced by the Joint Investigation Team on June 19, are of key importance because they provide definitive answer to the question of where the deadly weapon used to shoot the plane down came to the territory of Ukraine from and who organized the operation. Main suspects have been named: they are active or former agents of the Russian special services and a citizen of Ukraine, who provided assistance to them," the MFA said in its comment.

At the same time, the ministry said, the investigation is yet to determine the role of the so-called "Crimean Prime Minister" S. Aksionov, some other persons who are high-ranking officials in the premeditation of the crime, as well as to name its direct perpetrators – crewmembers of the infamous BUK.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to highlight the fact that the prosecution of suspects in the case of premeditation and committing of crimes related to the shooting down of MH17 is inextricably linked with Russia's responsibility as a state for violating a number of conventions, thus making these crimes possible. Among those, in particular, is the violation of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, which is the subject of court trial of Ukraine against Russia in the International Court of Justice," the comment says.

The ministry calls on the Russian Federation "to acknowledge its responsibility for supplying the arms and to cooperate with the investigation, as stipulated by UNSC Resolution 2166 of July 17, 2014."

"All the important legal aspects related to the transfer of criminal proceedings, court hearings and verdict execution is regulated by the relevant Agreement between Ukraine and the Kingdom of the Netherlands of July 7, 2017 on international legal cooperation with regard to the downing of flight MH17," the ministry said.

On Wednesday, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) named four suspects behind the MH17 tragedy. They are Russian citizens Igor Girkin (Strelkov), Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov, and Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko.

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