UNITED NATIONS, July 31 (RIA Novosti) - Amid complaints of lack of access to the crash site of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, Ukraine “immediately violated” its commitment to cease military activity in the zone around the site, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin told the UN Security Council late Wednesday.
Churkin said that Russia on July 28 “proposed a simple, unambiguous Press Statement” by the Security Council to bolster compliance with its Resolution 2166, which required a cessation of military operations around the site.
The diplomat underlined that the Russian proposed press statement was unceremoniously blocked by some Security Council members, who he said are “not interested in a full implementation of Resolution 2166.”
Earlier Wednesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called “on all parties to immediately halt hostilities in the proximity of the crash site so as to allow the international teams unimpeded access to the site.”
Ban said he was “deeply disturbed to learn that forensic teams and international investigators in Donetsk who are tasked to probe the downing of MH17 continue to be impeded from accessing the site and carrying out their critical work due to heavy fighting in the area of the crash site.”
“There are victims’ remains yet to be found and that key pieces of evidence remain at the site. The families of the victims of this horrific tragedy deserve closure and the world demands answers - international teams must be allowed to conduct their work,” Ban stressed citing Security Council Resolution 2166.
