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Russia suggests appointing UN envoy for investigation of MH17 crash

UNITED NATIONS, July 22. /TASS/. Russia has proposed to appoint a special envoy of the UN Secretary-General to facilitate the investigation of the MH17 crash in Ukraine. This is envisaged by the draft resolution submitted by Russia to the UN Security Council.

The document, whose copy has been obtained by TASS, asks UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to brief the Security Council within two weeks since the passing of the resolution "about the steps, which will make it possible to enhance the role of the United Nations in supporting the investigation, in particular, about the appointment of the Secretary-General’s envoy for the incident."

The document also expresses concern over the fact that the investigation into the tragedy carried out by the Dutch Safety Board does not meet the criteria outlined in the UN Security Council’s Resolution 2166. In particular, "it doesn’t provide the appropriate transparency in organizational issues and the working procedure, which may adversely affect the results." The draft resolution calls for the speedy conclusion of the investigation, without prejudice to its quality and insists that all interested countries are granted fair and equal access to the material of investigation.

Unlike the Malaysian text submitted last week, the document does not mention the need to set up a tribunal to prosecute those responsible for the air crash. Instead, the Russian draft resolution "demands that those responsible for the air incident are brought to justice" and urges all countries to cooperate in this direction after the completion of the international investigation.

Both draft resolutions are currently at the stage of discussion. The Malaysian document is expected to be put to a vote early next week, however, the date has not been set yet, a source in the diplomatic mission of New Zealand, which now holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, told TASS on Tuesday.

Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin earlier expressed hope that the Security Council members would be able to come to a consensus and develop a coordinated version of the text. "If we work calmly and carefully, we may reach a worthy decision. I hope that’s the way it will happen," the diplomat said.