Ukraine and Iran have completed the second round of negotiations to establish the circumstances that led to the downing of a Ukraine International Airlines passenger jet this past January, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevheniy Yenin said on Tuesday
KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2020) Ukraine and Iran have completed the second round of negotiations to establish the circumstances that led to the downing of a Ukraine International Airlines passenger jet this past January, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevheniy Yenin said on Tuesday.
A delegation from Kiev arrived in the Iranian capital of Tehran for the negotiations on Monday. The first round was held in late July and resulted in Tehran pledging compliance with all international aviation conventions, including by paying compensation.
"We have just completed negotiations with the Iranian side on the circumstances of the Boeing crash earlier this year. These have been two extremely difficult days, but we have spent them in a constructive atmosphere. The Iranian side gave us a number of answers to the questions that we extended to them earlier, and this brings us closer to the truth," Yenin said in a video address, published by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Facebook.
According to the diplomat, Tehran expressed its readiness to finish the technical investigation into the disaster in accordance with international law as soon as possible.
"We also expect progress in the criminal prosecution and persecution of those responsible," the official added.
Yenin said the next round of talks was scheduled to take place in late November or early December.
The incident took place on January 8 when the Ukrainian passenger jet crashed immediately after takeoff from Tehran, leaving all 176 people aboard killed. Three days later, the Iranian military admitted that the jet had been mistakenly shot down by its armed forces personnel who mistook it for a hostile cruise missile.
The black boxes from the downed aircraft were sent to France in July for decoding. Iran has agreed to pay all necessary compensations in relation to the crash.
