You're reading: Ukraine to demand access for experts to MH17 crash site at July 31 consultations in Minsk

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has authorized a working group for holding consultations in Minsk over providing international experts with access to the site where the Malaysia Airlines passenger jet crashed on July 17.

“The Ukrainian president has authorized our contact group to fly out to Minsk tomorrow and hold consultations for our demands to be met. We want the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) to make sure there is no counteraction on the part of the Ukrainian army in the disaster zone,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroisman said at a briefing in Kyiv on July 30.

“Tomorrow, Ukraine through its representatives in the contact group will put forward serious demands on granting international experts access to the crash site. You will later learn the composition of the delegation,” Hroisman said.

The Ukrainian president has demanded that international experts should get access to the crash site on Thursday, he said.

Unfortunately international experts have been unable to get to the crash site and collect the victims’ remains, Hroisman said. “We are being deliberately prevented from getting there,” the deputy prime minister said.

It was decided to set up a base for international experts close to the crash site, he also said.