Russia, US agree on ICAO's leading role in MH17 crash probe

 

Photo taken on July 18, 2014 shows passengers' belongings at the crash site of MH17 of Malaysian Airlines near the city of Shakhtarsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region. Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said Friday that according to the International Civil Aviation Organization's Annex 13, the Ukrainian government should institute an investigation into the circumstances of the deadly MH17 incident, and be responsible for the conduct of the investigation

Top diplomats of Russia and the United States agreed on Saturday that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) should be guaranteed leading role in investigating the Malaysian plane crash in Ukraine.

"In the course of a frank, straightforward discussion, the minister and the secretary ... agreed on the main point - the need for an absolutely unbiased, independent and open international investigation into the crash of the Malaysian airliner," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, citing a telephone conversation between foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

The diplomats 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," said the statement.

They called on the conflicting parties in Ukraine to adhere the Geneva agreement of April 17, when Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the Europe Union set tasks for the stop of violence and constitutional reform.

Also on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized the importance of a "thorough and impartial" investigation into all circumstances of the Thursday crash in eastern Ukraine, which claimed all 298 lives on board.

The two leaders said bloodshed must be stopped immediately in eastern Ukraine, and that contact group talks involving representatives from conflict-hit regions should be resumed.

They also agreed that it "would be of fundamental importance" to implement Russia's initiative on the presence of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe monitors at two checkpoints on the Russian-Ukrainian border.

 

 

 

 

Photo taken on July 18, 2014 shows passengers' belongings at the crash site of MH17 of Malaysian Airlines near the city of Shakhtarsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region. Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said Friday that according to the International Civil Aviation Organization's Annex 13, the Ukrainian government should institute an investigation into the circumstances of the deadly MH17 incident, and be responsible for the conduct of the investigation

 

Rescuers work at the crash site of MH17 of Malaysian Airlines near the city of Shakhtarsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region, July 18, 2014. Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said Friday that according to the International Civil Aviation Organization's Annex 13, the Ukrainian government should institute an investigation into the circumstances of the deadly MH17 incident, and be responsible for the conduct of the investigation.