MOSCOW, July 20, 21:20 /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had a telephone conversation on Sunday, agreed that it was important that all parties to the Ukrainian conflict ensured necessary conditions for the organization of an objective and independent international investigation of the Malaysian Boeing-777 crash in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin press service said.
Putin and Merkel drew special attention on the necessity of security guarantees for experts working at the crash site.
The two leaders “continued the discussion of the acute crisis in Ukraine. The Russian president and the German chancellor reiterated that the top priority task was to immediately stop combat operations and launch the process of peace negotiations,” the press service said.
It was the second telephone conversation between Putin and Merkel in the past two days.
A Boeing-777 of the Malaysian Airlines en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in July 17 in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Region 60 km from the Russian border, in the zone of combat operation between the Donetsk self-defence forces and the Ukrainian army. All the passengers and crewmembers onboard the plane - 298 people - died. Travelling aboard the plane were citizens of ten countries, including 192 Dutchmen and 10 British nationals.