Washington: The United States continues to make the case that Russia bears significant responsibility for the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over the Ukraine with statements by both President Barack Obama and United Nations ambassador Samantha Power.
“Evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile that was launched from an area that is controlled by Russian-backed separatists inside of Ukraine,” Mr Obama told reporters in the White House briefing room on Friday.
“We also know that this is not the first time a plane has been shot down in eastern Ukraine. Over the last several weeks Russian-backed separatists have shot down a Ukrainian transport plane and a Ukrainian helicopter, and they claimed responsibility for shooting down a Ukrainian fighter jet.
“Moreover, we know that these separatists have received a steady flow of support from Russia.
“This includes arms and training. It includes heavy weapons. And it includes anti-aircraft weapons.”
Mr Obama confirmed that one US citizen had been killed in the atrocity and said the deaths of nearly 300 civilians was an “outrage of unspeakable proportions”. He said he would be speaking with Prime Minister Tony Abbott, to convey his condolences for the loss of 28 Australian lives.
He called for an immediate cease-fire between Russian backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces to allow for credible international investigation of the incident.
Earlier the UN Security Council unanimously voted for "a full, thorough and independent international investigation" in a vote that won Russian support.
Later the Security Council held an emergency meeting at its New York headquarters, a discussion that saw representatives of Ukraine, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Australia and the United States come face to face with the Russian UN ambassador.
Australia's representative on the council, Philippa King, called for Russia to end its support for the separatists.
“Russia has a crucial role to play in de-escalating this persistently dangerous crisis," she said.
"It must end its provocations and any support for separatist forces.
"It must control its border with Ukraine and prevent the flow of weapons, equipment and fighters from Russia into Ukraine.
"Russia must withdraw the large number of troops it has again amassed on the Ukrainian border.
"It must actively work to de-escalate tensions and use its considerable influence with separatist groups in Ukraine to that end."
Samantha Powell gave more detail as to why the US believes Russian-backed Ukrainian separatists were to blame for atrocity.
She said US intelligence believed the flight was shot down by an SA-11 surface-to-air missile from a separatist-held location in eastern Ukraine.
She said hours before the attack separatists had been spotted in the region with such a system and that separatists had initially claimed responsibility for shooting down military transport.
Separatist leaders also boasted on social media about shooting down a plane, but later deleted these messages, she said.
“Because of the technical complexity of the SA-11, it is unlikely that the separatists could effectively operate the system without assistance from knowledgeable personnel,” Ms Power said. “Thus we cannot rule out technical assistance from Russian personnel in operating the systems.”
She said while Ukrainians had SA-11 systems the US was not aware any in the region at the time of the attack, and added that since the beginning of the crisis “Ukrainian air defenses have not fired a single missile, despite several alleged violations of their airspace by Russian aircraft.”
She said the attack followed a pattern of actions by the separatists, who had shot down several Ukrainian aircraft in June and July.
“If indeed Russian-backed separatists were behind this attack on a civilian airliner, they and their backers would have good reason to cover up evidence of their crime. Thus, it is extremely important that an investigation be commenced immediately,” said Ms Power.
Mr Obama said it was too soon to say whether or not the airliner had been deliberately targeted and declined to lay blame directly with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
“We don't know exactly what happened yet, and I don't want to, as I said before, get out ahead of the facts,” he said.
“But what I do know is, is that we have seen a ticking up of violence in eastern Ukraine that despite the efforts of the Ukrainian government to abide by a cease-fire and to reach out and agree to negotiations, including with the separatists, that has been rebuffed by these separatists.
“We know that they are heavily armed and they are trained, and we know that that's not an accident. That is happening because of Russian support.”
In his statement the Russian UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, blamed Ukraine for the incident saying it was responsible for the safety of air traffic in its airspace and that it should have closed routes over the disputed area.
Mr Obama also drew attention to those killed on the flight who had been travelling to Australia to attend a conference on HIV/AIDS.
“These were men and women who had dedicated their own lives to saving the lives of others, and they were taken from us in a senseless act of violence,” he said. “In this world today we shouldn't forget that in the midst of conflict and killing, there are people like these, people who are focused on what can be built rather than what can be destroyed, people who are focused on how they can help people that they've never met, people that define themselves not by what makes them different from other people but by the humanity that we hold in common.
“It's important for us to lift them up and to affirm their lives. And it's time for us to heed their example.”
President Barack Obama said on Friday the United States believed that Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by surface-to-air missiles from an area inside Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed separatists.
In remarks at the White House, Obama said the nearly 300 lives taken in the plane crash were an “outrage of unspeakable proportions” and a “global tragedy”. He vowed to investigate exactly what happened to end the lives of “men, women, children, infants who had nothing to do with the crisis” in that region.
“We are going to make sure the truth is out,” Obama said.
The president called the downing of the plane an “outrageous” event and said that it should underscore for people around the world that “it is time for peace” in the region.
Obama said that the United States would “continue to lead efforts in the international community to de-escalate” the situation between Ukraine and Russia, but he did not announce any further sanctions against Russia.
The message from the White House about the downing of the plane has become steadily more assertive as the hours have passed.
Obama’s first comments, at the beginning of a speech on Thursday afternoon on the need for more infrastructure spending, noted only that there “may be a terrible tragedy,” and he said the United States would work to determine what happened. The president made no mention of Russia.
By the time Obama landed back in Washington on Thursday night, the White House had issued a much more aggressive statement from Josh Earnest, the press secretary. The statement focused on Russia’s role in the creation of what Earnest called “the context” of the current situation.
“This incident occurred in the context of a crisis in Ukraine that is fuelled by Russian support for the separatists, including through arms, materiel, and training,” Earnest wrote.
The statement called on Russia to “take concrete steps to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine and to support a sustainable cease-fire and path toward peace that the Ukrainian government has consistently put forward.”
“This should snap everybody’s head to attention,” Obama said of the international community. “We don’t have time for propaganda. We don’t have time for games.”
In taking a more public posture, Obama joins his ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, who criticised Russia for not doing more to end the separatist movement in Ukraine. Power, speaking at the United Nations, said the missile that brought down the Malaysian plane was probably shot from territory the separatists control.
The New York Times
