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Putin Calls for Talks in Ukraine and a ‘Robust’ Crash Investigation Putin Calls for Talks in Ukraine and a ‘Robust’ Crash Investigation
(about 1 hour later)
MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin issued a brief statement overnight Monday saying that Russia would work to ensure that the conflict in eastern Ukraine moves from the battlefield to the negotiating table, and he again said that a robust international investigating team must have secure access to the crash site. He also accused unspecified nations of exploiting the disaster in pursuit of “mercenary political goals.” MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin issued a brief statement early on Monday saying that Russia would work to ensure that the conflict in eastern Ukraine moves from the battlefield to the negotiating table, and he again said that a robust international investigating team must have secure access to the Malaysia Airlines crash site. He also accused unspecified nations of exploiting the disaster in pursuit of “mercenary political goals.”
The statement posted on the Kremlin website came a day after mounting international criticism and anger against Russia and specifically Mr. Putin for the chaotic, unsecured condition of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash site and what some nations said was the desecration of the victims’ bodies. President Obama and other leaders have accused Mr. Putin of arming and abetting the rebels in their insurgent battle against the Ukrainian government.The statement posted on the Kremlin website came a day after mounting international criticism and anger against Russia and specifically Mr. Putin for the chaotic, unsecured condition of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash site and what some nations said was the desecration of the victims’ bodies. President Obama and other leaders have accused Mr. Putin of arming and abetting the rebels in their insurgent battle against the Ukrainian government.
“Russia will do everything it can to shift the conflict in eastern Ukraine from today’s military stage to the stage of discussion at the negotiating table,” Mr. Putin said in video statement posted at 1:40 a.m. on Monday, suggesting it emerged from a late-night discussion. “Russia will do everything it can to shift the conflict in eastern Ukraine from today’s military stage to the stage of discussion at the negotiating table,” Mr. Putin said in the video statement posted at 1:40 a.m. on Monday, suggesting it emerged from a late-night discussion.
In eastern Ukraine, clashes continued between rebels and government forces as the recovery effort remained hampered by lack of access to the crash site. Near the train station in Donetsk, artillery fire was heard. A witness said that rebel tanks were in the area, and that Ukrainian forces were firing back. It was unclear exctly where they were firing from. Ukrainian forces have occupied the airport, located nearby, for weeks. In eastern Ukraine, clashes continued between rebels and government forces as the recovery effort remained hampered by a lack of access to the crash site. Near the train station in Donetsk, about 50 miles from the crash site, artillery fire was heard. A witness said that rebel tanks were in the area, and that Ukrainian forces were firing back. It was unclear exactly where they were firing from. Ukrainian forces have occupied the nearby airport for weeks.
Mr. Putin again endorsed an investigation by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency. “It is essential for a robust team of experts to work on the site of the catastrophe under the auspices of I.C.A.O., the relevant international commission,” Mr. Putin said. “Everything must be done to ensure its full and absolute safety and to secure the humanitarian corridors needed for its work.” Rebel fighters said they believed Ukrainian forces were attempting to enter the city, perhaps to create a corridor for their forces, which were marooned at the Donetsk airport. “They’re trying to come in,” said a rebel fighter, who would identify himself only by his first name, Sasha, before he headed into battle.
It is unclear whether such an indirect call to allow the investigation to proceed would satisfy the growing chorus of critics who have demanded that Mr. Putin intervene directly with the pro-Russian separatists to end the combination of disorder and threats that have marked the crash site thus far. The United States and Ukraine have both accused Russia of not just supplying the rebels with weapons, but actively training them in the use of antiaircraft missiles, and they accuse the separatists of spiriting the battery used to down the civilian jetliner over the border into Russia just hours after the disaster. A spokesman for the Donetsk People’s Republic, Sergei Vladimirovich, said that the Ukrainians had begun to push into the city from the northwest. “A fight is going on,” he said by telephone. “There are casualties but we don’t know how many. We are still trying to figure out what is happening.”
A Ukrainian military spokesman, Vladislav Seleznyov, said he could not give details about what was happening, citing military secrecy, and would say only that the military was entering “an active phase of the antiterrorist operation.” He insisted that the military would not bomb or shoot artillery in the city, but he did not explain how specifically the Ukrainians were pushing forward. He said a “special unit,” was taking action to “reinforce the city.” Witnesses reported heavy shelling in the area and damage at a children’s hospital.
Also on Monday, the Ukrainian prime minister, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, said at a news conference in Kiev that the Ukrainian authorities had discovered 272 bodies from the flight, which left Amsterdam bound for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 251 of which had been loaded onto refrigerated train cars that had been sent to the crash site. He said the separatists were refusing to allow the train to leave the area, and that the Ukrainian government was ready to transfer an international investigation to “our Dutch friends.”
Mr. Yatsenyuk, who had been speaking in Ukrainian, then switched to English and adopted an even more forceful tone in condemning Russia.
“Those who committed this international crime, those responsible will be held accountable and together with the entire international community,” he said, “we will bring to justice everyone responsible, including the country which is behind the scene, but supplied illegal weapons, provided the financial support, trained these bastards and supported and even orchestrated this kind of despicable crime. "
Mr. Putin again endorsed an investigation by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency.
“It is essential for a robust team of experts to work on the site of the catastrophe under the auspices of I.C.A.O., the relevant international commission,” Mr. Putin said. “Everything must be done to ensure its full and absolute safety and to secure the humanitarian corridors needed for its work.”
It is unclear whether such an indirect call to allow the investigation to proceed would satisfy the growing chorus of critics who have demanded that Mr. Putin intervene directly with the pro-Russian separatists to end the combination of disorder and threats that have marked the crash site thus far. He also did not directly address the repeated accusations that Russia played a role in the disaster.
The United States and Ukraine have both accused Russia of not just supplying the rebels with weapons, but actively training them in the use of antiaircraft missiles, and they accuse the separatists of spiriting the battery used to down the civilian jetliner over the border into Russia just hours after the disaster.
Australia dispatched its foreign minister to the United Nations to lead the effort on Monday to get the United Nations Security Council to approve a resolution demanding that pro-Russian separatists grant unrestricted access to the crash site.Australia dispatched its foreign minister to the United Nations to lead the effort on Monday to get the United Nations Security Council to approve a resolution demanding that pro-Russian separatists grant unrestricted access to the crash site.
In addition, European leaders meeting on Tuesday are expected to discuss tougher economic sanctions against Russia, based on the sense that Russia, while publicly supporting an investigation, is secretly trying to thwart it. In addition, European leaders meeting on Tuesday are expected to discuss tougher economic sanctions against Russia, based on the sense that Moscow, while publicly supporting an investigation, is secretly trying to thwart it.
From the first, Mr. Putin has blamed Ukraine for the crash and said it was its responsibility to carry out the investigation. Russia’s state-run television has also maintained a steady drumbeat of reports suggesting Ukraine had the means to shoot down the passenger jet, while stopping just short of accusing it of doing so. From the start, Mr. Putin has blamed Ukraine for the crash and said it was its responsibility to carry out the investigation. Russia’s state-run television has also maintained a steady drumbeat of reports suggesting Ukraine had the means to shoot down the passenger jet, while stopping just short of accusing it of doing so.
In his statement released early Monday, Mr. Putin again said that if Ukraine had not abandoned a cease-fire in southeastern Ukraine, the tragedy would not have happened, and he accused others of trying to exploit it for political gains.In his statement released early Monday, Mr. Putin again said that if Ukraine had not abandoned a cease-fire in southeastern Ukraine, the tragedy would not have happened, and he accused others of trying to exploit it for political gains.
“At the same time no one should, and no one has a right to, use this tragedy for mercenary political goals,” he said in the statement, recorded at one of his residences near Moscow. “Such an event should not divide but unite people.”“At the same time no one should, and no one has a right to, use this tragedy for mercenary political goals,” he said in the statement, recorded at one of his residences near Moscow. “Such an event should not divide but unite people.”
There was no indication that the Kremlin would abandon what Ukraine and Western governments have said is its extensive support for the separatists, and analysts here suggested that Mr. Putin would not unless there was irrefutable evidence that they shot down the plane. Mr. Putin is riding a wave of popular support at home for his robust foreign policy, starting with the annexation of Crimea in March.There was no indication that the Kremlin would abandon what Ukraine and Western governments have said is its extensive support for the separatists, and analysts here suggested that Mr. Putin would not unless there was irrefutable evidence that they shot down the plane. Mr. Putin is riding a wave of popular support at home for his robust foreign policy, starting with the annexation of Crimea in March.
Politicians around the world expressed anger on Sunday at the lack of action by Mr. Putin. The American secretary of state, John Kerry, said he was warning Mr. Putin “for the last time” to stabilize eastern Ukraine and halt the flow of weapons to separatists there. He called their handling of the victims, which the rebels seized from Ukrainian rescue workers, “grotesque.”Politicians around the world expressed anger on Sunday at the lack of action by Mr. Putin. The American secretary of state, John Kerry, said he was warning Mr. Putin “for the last time” to stabilize eastern Ukraine and halt the flow of weapons to separatists there. He called their handling of the victims, which the rebels seized from Ukrainian rescue workers, “grotesque.”
The United States, along with Ukraine, has been the most vocal in accusing Russia of supplying the separatists with the surface-to-air missile believed to have brought down the Malaysia Airlines flight last Thursday, killing all 298 people on board.The United States, along with Ukraine, has been the most vocal in accusing Russia of supplying the separatists with the surface-to-air missile believed to have brought down the Malaysia Airlines flight last Thursday, killing all 298 people on board.
In Australia on Monday, the prime minister, Tony Abbott, said attempts to secure the crash sight remained “an absolutely shambolic situation,” wire services reported. “It does look more like a garden cleanup than a forensic investigation,” he said. In Australia on Monday, the prime minister, Tony Abbott, said attempts to secure the crash sight remained “an absolutely shambolic situation.”
“It does look more like a garden cleanup than a forensic investigation,” he said.
Those remarks came after he said earlier that he had talked to Mr. Putin by telephone and that the Russian leader had “said all the right things” about making sure that the international investigation was able to proceed.Those remarks came after he said earlier that he had talked to Mr. Putin by telephone and that the Russian leader had “said all the right things” about making sure that the international investigation was able to proceed.
Speaking on Sunday on television in Australia, Mr. Abbott summed up what much of the Western world was thinking: “Russian-controlled territory, Russian-backed rebels, quite likely a Russian-supplied weapon, Russia cannot wash its hands of this.”Speaking on Sunday on television in Australia, Mr. Abbott summed up what much of the Western world was thinking: “Russian-controlled territory, Russian-backed rebels, quite likely a Russian-supplied weapon, Russia cannot wash its hands of this.”
Forensic experts from the United States and other countries whose citizens died aboard the Malaysia Airlines jet arrived in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early Monday as part of an international push to recover, identify and repatriate bodies still under the control of pro-Russian rebels.
“We are here to get the bodies back to their countries and to their families. We will try our utmost to do this as quickly as possible,” Michel Oz, the group’s Dutch coordinator, said. But he added that it was still unclear whether the separatist rebels who control the crash site and the nearby railway station at Torez would allow a train loaded with corpses to leave for Kharkiv. “We have no information,” he said.
At 11:30 a.m., Dutch body identification specialists arrived together with representatives from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe at the train station in Torez. The two body identification experts bowed their heads for a few seconds of silence before climbing into the second car and starting to work. They put on blue latex gloves and masks over their mouths and noses. One asked for a flashlight. The bodies lay in black trash bags in a pile toward the back of the wagon. Incongruously, a large tree branch lay next to them. One worker, in rimless glasses with a round face, stood up inside and paused, and looked around him, appearing overwhelmed. They bent down touching some of the bags. They repeated the process in two other train cars.
“We need to get this train out of here before darkness,” Alexander Hug, deputy chief monitor of the O.S.C.E. special monitoring mission, said to a separatist leader, standing in front of a rusty train wagon. He added: “If we wait any longer it won’t be good for anyone.”
Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine’s biggest city, lies around 190 miles north of the crash site and is under the control of the central government in Kiev, which has repeatedly accused the pro-Russian rebels of firing the missile that downed the plane. The Ukrainian authorities have set up a forensic laboratory and other facilities in Kharkiv to identify remains and investigate the crash.
Mr. Oz said the international team now assembling in Kharkiv included experts from the American Federal Bureau of Investigation, a unit of the German federal police that handles the identification of disaster victims, as well as officials from Britain and Australia. Malaysia is also due to join the effort.
An Australian official who declined to be identified voiced dismay that the bodies were effectively being held hostage by separatist rebels. “We have no idea what is going on and when we can get the bodies,” he said.
Igor Baluta, the governor of Kharkiv, complained that the separatists were frustrating efforts to identify corpses and return them to their families. “We are all ready here. We are prepared to receive the bodies but everything depends on getting an agreement” with the rebels, Mr. Baluta told reporters on Monday.