AMSTERDAM: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Friday said Russia was partly responsible for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and demanded that Moscow acknowledge its role.
Speaking after the Netherlands and Australia said they would hold Russia legally responsible in the MH17 disaster, Rutte appealed to Russia to cooperate with an criminal investigation and negotiate over reparations.
International criminal investigators have “irrefutably established that Russia can be held responsible for their part in downing MH17, and they are responsible for deploying” the missile launcher that was used to shoot it down, Rutte said.
The United States also joined calls for Russia to account for its role in the July 2014 downing of Malaysia Flight MH-17 over eastern Ukraine.
“It is time for Russia to acknowledge its role in the shooting down of MH-17 and to cease its callous disinformation campaign,” US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement that blamed Russian aggression in Ukraine for more than 10,300 deaths.
MH17 was shot down over territory held by pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 aboard. Russia denies responsibility.
