US: Russian weapon downed Malaysia plane
Iran Press TV
Sun Jul 20, 2014 2:47PM GMT
The US and its Western allies have stepped up their accusations against Russia for the Thursday's crash of a Malaysian airliner in Ukraine saying the missile that brought down the plane was given by Moscow to pro-Russian militia in east Ukraine. All 298 people on board the plane were killed in the crash.
US Secretary of State John Kerry told CNN that "It's pretty clear that this is a system that was transferred from Russia in the hands of separatists." Kerry added that a sophisticated SA-11 system was used to down the plane.
"We know with confidence, with confidence that the Ukrainians did not have such a system anywhere near the vicinity at that point in time. So it obviously points a very clear finger at the separatists," Kerry added without substantiating the claim.
The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has also blamed Russia over the crash.
In an unusual front-page op-ed in the Sunday Times, titled "This is an outrage made in Moscow, Cameron said "If President Putin does not change his approach to Ukraine, then Europe and the West must fundamentally change our approach to Russia."
"It is time to make our power, influence and resources count. Our economies are strong and growing in strength … And yet we sometimes behave as if we need Russia more than Russia needs us," Cameron said in his op-ed.
Meanwhile, France, Britain and Germany threatened Russia on Sunday with further EU sanctions if it did not press pro-Russian militia in east Ukraine to allow unfettered access to the crash site of the plane.
On Friday, US President Barack Obama the plane was downed by Russian-supplied weapons from militia in east Ukraine.
"… evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile that was launched from an area that is controlled by Russian-backed separatists inside of Ukraine," Obama said.
Russia has criticized the US for blaming on east Ukraine pro-Russian militia and Russia for the crash without waiting for the results of an investigation.
Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said 'The statements of representatives of the US administration are evidence of a deep political aberration of Washington's perception of what is going on in Ukraine … despite an obvious and indisputable nature of the arguments provided by rebels and Moscow, the US administration is pushing its own agenda,' he said.
DDB/DDB
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