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Lavrov, Kerry call for int’l investigation of Boeing-777 crash in Ukraine

Russian FM and U.S. Secretary of State agreed that “all evidence, including flight data recorders, should be made available for examination as part of an international investigation"
At the site of the crash  ITAR-TASS/Zurab Javakhadze
At the site of the crash
© ITAR-TASS/Zurab Javakhadze

MOSCOW, July 19 /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry agreed in a telephone conversation on Saturday, July 19, that all evidence, including flight data recorders, from the Malaysia Airlines Boeing-777 passenger jetliner that crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17 should be made available for examination as part of an international investigation.

“Lavrov and Kerry discussed the situation in Ukraine and called for urgent measures to settle it,” the Foreign Ministry said, adding that the conversation had taken place by preliminary agreement following a telephone call between the presidents of the two countries on July 17.

“During the frank discussion, the minister and the secretary, without mincing words, exchanged assessments and arguments and agreed on the main point that it is necessary to ensure an absolutely impartial, independent and open international investigation of the Malaysian plane crash in Ukraine on July 17. The circumstances of this accident should be investigated with the leading role of ICAO and with the participation of all those who are ready to help to establish the truth,” the ministry said.

Lavrov and Kerry agreed that “all evidence, including flight data recorders, should be made available for examination as part of an international investigation and that all necessary conditions should be created on the ground to ensure access for the international team of experts”.

The Russian minister stressed the need to use the experts of the Interstate Aviation Committee, of which both Russia and Ukraine are members, for investigating the accident.

The chief diplomats also said that the parties to the Ukrainian conflict should return to the Geneva agreement of April 17 which call for “putting an immediate end to all violence and for the commencing an inclusive, transparent and accountable constitutional process involving all regions of Ukraine”, the ministry said.

“Lavrov and Kerry agreed to use the influence of Russia and the United States on the warring Ukrainian sides to prod them into moving in this direction. They stressed that the conflict in Ukraine could not be solved by military methods and could only be settled peacefully through a national consensus,” the ministry said.

The plane en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Region 60 km from the Russian border on July 17 and as many as 298 people aboard died.