Diplomat: UN SC to try to bring together Malaysia’s and Russia’s approaches to MH17 crash

UNITED NATIONS, July 21. /TASS/. The United Nations Security Council will try to "find a common denominator" and bring together approaches advanced by Russia and Malaysia in their draft resolutions on the 2014 MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine, Russian Permanent Representative at the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said on Monday after a closed-door Security Council meeting called at Russia’s initiative.

"No concrete results or agreements were reached, but, to my mind, it is important that we closed the meeting with a determination to try to find a common denominators and try to see how we can combine the approach offered by the Malaysian side and the approach advanced by us so that the Security Council could take another step," he said.

He said Russia suggested the role of the United Nations Secretary General in the investigations of the MH17 crash be enhanced. It also called to invite all the parties concerned to take part in this process. "We called to invigorate the role of the Secretary General, which is provided by resolution 2166. There are a number of proposals on more active involvement in the investigation of all parties concerned. No secret that we have some questions to the investigations," the Russian diplomat said, adding that some participants in the Security Council meeting had insisted the investigation was faultless.

"The most important thing for us is to see what useful role the Security Council can continue to play," Churkin said. As of now, in his words, no further consultations on the draft resolution had been appointed. He refrained from making any forecasts when this document could be discussed. "So far, it is necessary to absorb today’s discussion," he said. "Let us wait and see."

The Boeing 777-200 of the Malaysia Airlines (MH17) en route 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 militia forces and the Ukrainian army. All the passengers and crewmembers onboard the aircraft - 298 people, citizens of 10 states - died. Most of the passengers - 196 people - were Dutch citizens. According to the key theory of the crash, the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. The Ukrainian authorities and representatives of the self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Luhansk have been accusing each other of the crash. The United Nations Security Council on July 21, 2014 demanded a comprehensive and independent investigation. Russia’s foreign ministry has repeatedly said Russia was not satisfied with how the investigation was being conducted.