EU leaders set deadline for separatists to allow crash site investigation

The pro-Russian terrorists are interfering with the investigation of the Mayalsian Airlines Flight MH-17 crash site by not allowing work and removing evidence, including the jet’s black boxes, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told French President Francois Hollande in a July 20 telephone conversation. “But that won’t save them because we have satellite photos from the site of the rocket’s launch, photos and video of the anti-aircraft unit that offer proof of the arms transfer from Russia, intercepted telephone conversations of the terrorists and other undeniable evidence,” Poroshenko said, as reported by his press service. He thanked Hollande for this firm support of Ukraine during the UN Security Council meeting and called upon France to recognize as terrorist organizations the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. An emergency meeting of the European Council will be called after the facts are established of the Russian government supplying the terrorists with arms, including those used to attack the Malaysian Airlines jet.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has until Tuesday, July 22 to ensure that the pro-Russian separatists to give international experts full access to the Malaysian Airlines crash site, according to a July 20 statement signed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande. “If Russia doesn’t immediately take necessary measures, the European Union will determine the consequences of such actions of its Foreign Ministers Council that will occur on Tuesday,” the statement said.

 

The United Nations Security Council finalized on July 21 its resolution on the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-17 crash in eastern Ukraine, with a vote to occur at 15:00 eastern standard time today, reported the RIA Novosti news agency.

 

The European Union (EU) Council published a written statement on July 18 that declared the widening of the scope of the second phase of sanctions following the attack on the Malaysian airlines passenger jet, the UNIAN news agency reported. “This opens the door to freezing the assets of individuals that materially or financially support the actions against the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” the statement said. “According to the mandate of the EU leaders, the Council should approve the first list of such individuals, including from the Russian Federation, by the end of July.” Currently, 72 individuals involved in undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity have been targeted with travel bans and asset freezes, the report said. The decision was passed in written procedure and was published on July 19 in the official EU journal.

 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for France to freeze the sale of two sophisticated Mistral amphibious warships to Ukraine, she told a July 18 press conference. She said that her country will halt the construction of an infantry center in Russia as a result of the terrorist act, euobserver.comreported.

 

Pro-Russian separatists shot down the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-17 jet using anti-aircraft systems gained from the Russian government, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told CNN on July 20. During the last month, the U.S. government has observed Russian-made arms crossing the Russian-Ukrainian border to support the separatists in eastern Ukraine, he said. During that time, they shor down 12 planes, among them Malaysian Airlines jet, which they didn’t realize was a commercial plane.

 

U.S. intelligence has confirmed that Russia gave separatist forces in Ukraine powerful anti-aircraft rocket systems and tanks, the Wall Street Journal reported on July 19. A Buk M1 was used to attack the Mayalsian airlines jet, and several systems were transferred back into Russia after the attack on the Malaysian airlines jet, confirming the separatists are trying to conceal their role in the catastrophe. Questions are being raised by investigators as to why commercial airlines weren’t notified of the potential danger given Ukrainian and American officials knew of the separatists possessing such systems days before the crash.

 

The international community should offer a decisive rebuff to international terrorism and stop those who are supplying terrorists with arms, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told German Chanceller Angela Merkel in a July 20 telephone conversation. “Facts of marauding, stealing credit cards and personal items, as the terrorists have been behaving with the casualties’ bodies, goes beyond the bounds of human morality,” he said, as reported by the presidential press service.

 

Merkel agreed and they both concluded that the key task is to stop the supply of military hardware and arms for the terrorists through the Russian-Ukrainian border, the presidential press service reported. An OSCE monitoring and verification regime along the border and at crossing posts in critically important, they concluded, agreeing to be in contact to further coordinate activity.

 

The Ukrainian government is preparing international legal complaints to recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics as terrorist organizations, Poroshenko told Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans at a July 19 meeting. He called for an international court trial for the terrorists responsible. He added that OSCE representatives were fired upon by the terrorists on July 18. They returned the next day but prevented from collecting evidence.

 

Zenon Zawada: This horrific tragedy looks to benefit Ukrainian efforts in eliminating the threat of Russian-sponsored terrorism, which has now begun to affect citizens beyond Ukraine, in the European Union itself. If before the tragedy European support for the Ukrainian government’s anti-terrorist operation was half-hearted (as demonstrated by the hesitancy on forbidding the Mistral sales), now we expect a full commitment with the common goal of stabilizing the political and economic situation in Ukraine.

 

Unfortunately, we expect Putin to extend his campaign of destabilizing Ukraine with the widely held view that he’s pursuing a war of attrition, expecting to exhaust Ukraine economically and militarily. The success or failure of Putin’s plans largely depends on the response by the West.