MOSCOW, September 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is ready to take an active part in the international investigation into Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said Wednesday.
Karasin met with Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein to discuss in detail the progress of the probe under the aegis of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
The Russian diplomat expressed concern over the slow pace of the current probe, and the fact that some key forensic and technical tests and experiments have not been conducted at the crash site.
“The delays with the probe eliminated the possibility to conduct several key tests,” the Foreign Ministry cited Karasin as saying.
“Russia insists on the absolutely transparent work of the international committee and strict adherence to all ICAO regulations,” the ministry said.
At a Wednesday press briefing, Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said Malaysia will be able to get "some" results of the MH17 inquiry before July 2015 if all resources are pulled.
On Tuesday, the Dutch Safety Board issued a preliminary report on the MH17 crash, saying that the Malaysia Airlines aircraft broke up in the air probably as a result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the plane from outside.
The Dutch Safety Board said that its investigation team will now be working towards producing its final report, which is due next summer.
On July 17, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashed in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk, killing all 298 people on board.
Kiev authorities accuse independence fighters in eastern Ukraine of shooting the plane down, but have not provided any evidence to support their claims. Local militia leaders say they do not possess weapons capable of downing an aircraft at 32,000 feet.
