The United Nations Security Council on Monday unanimously passed a resolution condemning the downing of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft in Ukraine's east.
The draft resolution was tabled by Australia. The document includes text prepared by Russia.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, speaking after the vote, said the resolution was an unambiguous response by the international community to the deplorable act of the downing of the flight. She said the Malaysian jet has been brought down in Ukraine on the territory controlled by the separatists.
UN Security Council demands that armed groups in control of the site provide safe access immediately for a recovery of the bodies, Bishop quoted the document.
“Furthermore, those armed groups should stop any actions that compromised the integrity of the crash site,” the foreign minister stressed.
According to the document, there must also be a ceasefire in the immediate area of the site, she said, adding that the resolution called on the Russian Federation to use it influence over the separatists to ensure access so that the victims’ bodies could be “treated with dignity” and brought home.
The Australian diplomat also said that the resolution also called on Russia to use its influence to bring the conflict in Ukraine to an end.
“All states, armed groups — everyone — must cooperate with the investigation,” she emphasized, adding that the message from the Security Council to those responsible was definitive: they would be held to account for their actions.
As reported, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashed near the village of Hrabove, Shakhtarsk district, Donetsk region, on July 17. There were 283 passengers and 15 crewmembers on board the plane. They all died.
According to the airlines, the victims list includes 192 Dutch nationals, one of them being also a U.S. citizen, 44 Malaysian citizens, among them 15 crewmembers, 27 Australians, 12 citizens of Indonesia, ten Britons, one of them being also a South African, as well as four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos, one Canadian, and one citizen of New Zealand.
