On Tuesday, September 24, in New York, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha participated in a ministerial meeting of the member states of the Joint Investigation Team on the shoot down of Flight MH17 together with his colleagues from Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Malaysia.

“It is crucial to restore justice and hold those responsible accountable, including those who gave the orders, and to ensure that such crimes are never repeated,” the Minister emphasized.

The Foreign Minister noted that the crime of Russia's downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 and the killing of 298 citizens from various countries, including 80 children, demonstrated to the international community that Russia's violations of international law and its threats to international security go far beyond Ukraine.

“I still see before my eyes an endless sea of flowers and children's toys that caring people brought to the Dutch Embassy in Ukraine in the days immediately following this Russian crime,” the Minister recalled.

Andrii Sybiha noted that in 10 years since the tragedy, Russia has never recognized its international legal responsibility and never provided any reparations to the families of the victims. Instead, the families have not received any truthful clarity from Russia regarding the tragic deaths of their loved ones. This reflects the inhuman nature of Russians that we in Ukraine have been dealing with for a long time.

“We welcome our joint commitment to pursue truth, justice, and accountability for the downing of Flight MH17. We have full confidence in the independent, open, and impartial proceedings against Russia within multiple international judicial bodies. We look forward to the upcoming decision of the European Court of Human Rights. We also carefully observe the efforts of Australia and the Netherlands to hold Russia accountable within the International Civil Aviation Organization. The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine,” emphasized Andrii Sybiha.