You're reading: Kyiv supports creation of international tribunal on MH17 disaster

Kyiv supports the creation of an international tribunal to punish those responsible for the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 disaster in 2014, although the country is ready to consider other options, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry charge d'affaires Dmytro Kuleba has said.

“From the point of view of international lawfulness of the mechanism of punishment, the model of creating a tribunal the regulations of which is approved by the UN Security Council is the most optimal one. This would allow [for] providing for cooperation of all countries with the tribunal and recognize its verdicts. However, we do not deny other mechanisms of punishment, including within the field of national jurisdiction,” Kuleba said at a briefing in Kyiv on June 24.

He said that the UN Security Council on July 21, 2014 passed Resolution 2166 (2014) where it expressed support for “efforts to establish a full, thorough and independent international investigation into the incident in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines” and called on all United Nations member states “to provide any requested assistance to civil and criminal investigations.” The independent Dutch Safety Board has been authorized to conduct the investigation.

The preliminary conclusions published by the board show state that the plane was hit by a large quantity of objects, lending credence to the most likely version of events – the plane being shot down by a ground-to-air rocket.

“As for the final results of the investigation by the Board, including the flight line and the place where the rocket was launched, they are to be published approximately in October 2015. We expect that agreements on the optimal mechanism of punishing people responsible [for the disaster] will be reached,” Kuleba said.

He said this concerns not only those who pulled the trigger, but also the organizers and other persons who helped commit this crime.

The diplomat said that Ukraine, jointly with the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium and Malaysia, is actively cooperating as part of the joint investigation group.