MOSCOW, July 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and German Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Markus Ederer urged Kiev and Ukrainian independence supporters to seize military activity, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
“The sides have discussed the development of the crisis in Ukraine and the issues related to investigation of the Malaysian plane crash near Donetsk,” the statement says, adding that Karasin and Ederer “emphasized the unconditional necessity of ensuring that the independent international expert commission led by ICAO has access to the site of the catastrophe, and its security is guaranteed for the entire period of work.”
Karasin and Ederer also stressed the need for Kiev and self-defense forces to immediately cease fire in southeastern Ukraine and “to restore direct consultations of the Contact group involving international mediators and self-defense fores’ representatives.”
Karasin pointed out that this is what Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for earlier on Monday.
“Speaking about the terrible tragic events that occurred in the sky above Donetsk, I would like to say once again how we in Russia treat these events that today happen in Ukraine. We have repeatedly called on all the conflicting sides to immediately stop bloodshed and sit down at the negotiating table," Putin told Rossiya 24 television channel Monday.
Malaysia Airlines' flight MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed on July 17 near Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. 298 people on board the Boeing 777 died, including 283 passengers and 15 crew members.
Ukrainian authorities place the blame for the crash on independence supporters in the country’s eastern regions, while the latter maintain they do not have the means to shoot down a plane flying that high.
