Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in a telephone call on July 19, "discussed the situation in Ukraine and advocated urgent measures to settle it," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
“In the course of a frank, straightforward discussion, the ministers, having exchanged assessments and arguments, agreed on the main point – the need for an absolutely unbiased, independent and open international investigation into the crash of the Malaysian airliner on Ukrainian territory on July 17. The leading role of the International Civil Aviation Organization and the participation of all those who stand ready to help establish the truth is essential in finding out the circumstances of that incident,” the ministry said in a statement.
Lavrov and Kerry “agreed that all physical evidence, including the black boxes, must be made available for such an international investigation, and that, on the ground, all necessary arrangements must be made for access by an international expert team,” it said.
“Lavrov stressed the importance of the Interstate Aviation Committee, which has Ukraine among its members, being drawn into this work,” the ministry said.
“It was also reaffirmed that it is essential for a stable, lasting settlement of the conflict in Ukraine that all the parties return to the solid ground of the Geneva statement of the ministers of foreign affairs of Russia, the United States and Ukraine and the European Union high representative for foreign and security policy of April 17 of this year, which sets the task of an immediate end to all violence and an immediate beginning of an inclusive, transparent and monitored process with the participation of all regions of Ukraine,” the statement said.
“Lavrov and Kerry came to an agreement on Russia and the United States using their influence with the parties to the Ukrainian conflict to induce them to move in the abovementioned direction. It was stressed that the conflict in Ukraine can have no military solution and can only be settled in a purely peaceful way via a national consensus,” the ministry said.
