The first trilateral meeting between Russia, and Australia and the Netherlands, two of the five members of the joint investigation team (JIT) probing into the 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, might be held in the coming months if the two JIT representatives abandon their ultimatums and baseless accusations against Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2019) The first trilateral meeting between Russia, and Australia and the Netherlands, two of the five members of the joint investigation team (JIT) probing into the 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, might be held in the coming months if the two JIT representatives abandon their ultimatums and baseless accusations against Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.
In late December, Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said in a letter to the country's parliament that the government of the Netherlands, which holds Russia responsible for the incident, was considering taking Moscow to an international court or organization over the latter's reluctance to recognize the results of JIT's investigation into the tragic crash. Russian officials, in turn, have repeatedly criticized the evidence-free nature of the investigation.
"A dialogue regarding the organization of a meeting is ongoing. And the first contact in a trilateral format might take place in the coming months, surely, if the Netherlands and Australia abandon ultimatums and baseless political accusations and agree to engage in constructive, professional discussions of key issues relating to the Boeing crash," Zakharova said at a briefing.
Malaysia Airlines' Boeing 777 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was brought down near the city of Donetsk by what an international group of investigators � Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine � said was a Russian-made Buk missile originating with a military brigade stationed in the Russian city of Kursk.
Militia in eastern Ukraine denied having such advanced weaponry. The Russian Foreign Ministry said there was no evidence of Russia's alleged role in the tragedy, which claimed 298 lives. The ministry accused the Dutch-led investigation of bias. The Russian Defense Ministry said the missile that downed flight MH17 had been in Ukraine's arsenal since 1986.
