Pro-Russians to ensure safety at crash site
Pro-Russia forces in Ukraine say they will guarantee the safety of international investigators at the Malaysian jet’s crash site if Kyiv agrees to a ceasefire.
“We declare that we will guarantee the safety of international experts on the scene as soon as Kyiv concludes a ceasefire agreement,” Andrei Purgin, deputy prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said in a statement on Sunday.
Purgin also urged the Ukrainian government to immediately conclude a ceasefire agreement with pro-Russia forces in the country’s east.
He said the Ukrainian government’s failure to do so would show that it is made up of “dangerous lunatics, bloodthirsty maniacs (who are) dangerous not only for the residents of Donbass but also for the world community.”
There is no sign of a truce in Ukraine’s eastern regions despite mounting pressure for a ceasefire following the crash of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine’s east on Thursday, July 17.
The Boeing airliner, which was carrying 298 people, was en route from the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, to Kuala Lumpur when it was reportedly shot down over Ukraine’s volatile Donetsk region.
Leaders from Russia and Ukraine had earlier accused one another of involvement in the tragic incident.
In televised comments Russian President Vladimir Putin said the government of the territory in which the tragedy had happened bears responsibility for it. The Russian president added that the incident would not have occurred if Kyiv had not resumed its military operations against pro-Russia forces in the country’s east.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, however, has said a “terrorist attack” caused the passenger plane to crash.
Ukraine launched military operations in eastern regions in mid-April to crush the pro-Russia protests there. Hundreds of people have been killed in the military campaign while tens of thousands were forced to escape to Russia.
MOS/AB