KIEV, July 31 (RIA Novosti) – The Ukrainian parliament on Thursday ratified agreements between Ukraine and the Netherlands to allow Australian police missions into the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash site and provide security for the crash investigators, according to Ukrainian parliamentarians.
"The parliament unanimously ratified these two agreements. We support a transparent investigation of this tragedy," Mykhailo Chechetov, the first deputy leader of the pro-presidential Party of Regions, said.
"We accepted and voted for two issues, for two ratifications," confirmed Serhiy Labazyuk, another member of parliament.
One of the agreements gave Australian police access “to the plane crash site in order to secure an impartial investigation,” Labazyuk added.
On Monday, Kiev and Amsterdam signed an agreement on an international security mission to assist in the investigation into the circumstances of the plane crash in the country’s eastern region of Donetsk. The mission is to comprise no more than 700 armed personnel, according to the document. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that Australian personnel are not employed by any military units, and its main function is to provide security for the crash site.
A total of 298 people, including 193 Dutch citizens and 27 Australians, died on July 17 as a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in Donetsk Region of Ukraine.
The cause of the catastrophe remains unclear, as international experts have been unable to reach the crash site for several days due to heavy fighting between the Ukrainian Army and independence supporters.
