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Malaysia hopes for Russia’s further assistance in Ukraine MH17 crash investigation

Malaysia wants a public discussion regardless of the investigation results, so that those guilty should not escape punishment

QUITO, January 12. /TASS/. The speaker of Malaysia’s Senate, Abu Zahar Ujang, said on Monday he hopes Russia will continue providing assistance in investigating the July crash of Malaysian Boeing near Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.

“We reckon on your help in this investigation in future. We would like to note that whatever the results are, we want a public discussion so that those guilty do not escape punishment,” Ujang told Russia’s upper house speaker, Valentina Matviyenko, at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) which has opened in Ecuador.

Matviyenko said Russia does not accuse anyone until an independent international investigation is completed. “Conclusions should be made only after the investigation,” she said.

Russia seeks an open international investigation into the tragedy and will further insist on conducting the effort jointly by international organizations under the auspices of the United Nations, she said.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashed on July 17 in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, some 60 km (over 37 miles) from the Russian border, in the zone of combat operations between the Donetsk self-defense forces and the Ukrainian army. All passengers and crewmembers on board the aircraft - 298 people - died. The Netherlands had the highest death toll in the disaster, with 196 victims.

A report by the Dutch safety board leading the investigation said in September that flight MH17 crashed after a “large number of high-energy objects” penetrated its fuselage.