Kyiv, 19 July 2014 – Pavlo Klimkin, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said that Ukraine is doing everything possible to gain access to the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 flight MH17. All possible means are used to allow experts to do their job. “We reached out to the terrorists through all possible means, including videoconferencing, to secure unrestricted access to the crash site for Ukrainian and international experts, and international observers. Unfortunately, this has not had positive results. The OSCE monitoring mission was allowed less than one hour of access to the crash site today,” the Minister stated at a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center today.
The terrorists are hindering Ukrainian authorities from being able to transfer bodies of those killed. The terrorists committed gross violations of international norms by removing bodies from the site of the tragedy without authorization. Mr. Klimkin said the two key issues now are that an investigation must be conducted in an unobstructed and professional manner, and that the bodies are forensically examined by impartial experts. An international investigation commission has been created to look into the ‘Malaysia Airline Boing 777 disaster’, composed of experts from Ukraine, the US, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Britain, Switzerland, and other EU member states.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met today with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. The day after tomorrow Malaysia’s Foreign Affairs Minister is due to visit Ukraine. Mr. Klimkin also announced that a special center has been set up for victim’s families in Kharkiv, and a special consular section has been created to assist them.
Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Minister also stressed that the international community needs to exert pressure on Russia to join the efforts to make access to the crash site unrestricted, so that an enquiry can be conducted without hindrance.
Pavlo Klimkin expressed his deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those killed in the downing of the Malaysian flight. The Minister also stressed that Ukrainian authorities, with the assistance of the international community, are doing everything possible to conduct a transparent investigation of the catastrophe.
