Dutch Activists Ask Trump to Launch New MH17 Crash Probe - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The letter called on Trump to investigate the crash, for which Russia has been blamed, as the Dutch investigation was "not independent or convincing," while the new US president had previously cast doubt on conclusions made by Dutch investigators, the Volkskrant newspaper reported.

During his election campaign, Trump dismissed US government claims blaming Russia for the crash. The then presidential nominee said the plane could have even been shot down by a Russian-made missile but added there was no evidence to suggest it was Russia who fired it.

The letter, signed by 26 people, including several well-known journalists such as Thierry Baudet and Joost Niemoller, was sent to Trump in November, two months before he came into office.

The signatories questioned the lack of US radar images and explanations as to why Ukrainian air traffic control let the plane change its route to fly over the war-torn Donbass region.

The MH17 plane crashed in eastern Ukraine in July 2014 while flying to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam. All 298 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft died in the incident. The Ukrainian government forces and the local militias traded accusations regarding the incident, which occurred at the time of heavy fighting in the region.

The Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) tasked with probing the crash announced in September that the MH17 airliner was allegedly downed by a Buk missile system, which they claimed had been brought from Russia and consequently returned there.

The Russian Defense Ministry cast doubt on the conclusions of the investigators, saying that no Russian missile systems, including Buk, have crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border at the time of the incident.