MH17 crash probe is priority for Ukraine and the Netherlands – foreign ministers

Bringing to justice those responsible for MH17 crash is now the most important issue on the agenda of Ukraine and the Netherlands.

"The most important project between our countries now is bringing to justice those who allowed and who shot down the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17," Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko said at a joint briefing with Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

This issue is a priority in Ukraine's negotiations with the Netherlands, and Ukraine delegated its right of investigation to the Dutch side to ensure impartiality and effectiveness, the minister added.

Stef Blok, in turn, confirmed the priority of this issue for the Netherlands.

"I fully agree with Minister Prystaiko that the MH17 probe is a top-priority issue on our agenda," he said.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over Donbas in July 2014. There were 283 passengers and 15 crewmembers on board the plane. All of them died.

In September 2016, the JIT said it had been established on the basis of irrefutable evidence that the plane had been shot down by a 9M38 Buk missile launched from the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants in the eastern part of Ukraine. In addition, the JIT said on May 24 that the Buk missile system from which the aircraft was downed belongs to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in Kursk.

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