Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17: Obama calls for immediate ceasefire in Ukraine
The President called the crash an ‘outrage of unspeakable proportions,’ echoing international calls for a credible investigation. Obama said he hoped the attack served as a 'wake-up call' to European leaders, who have been reluctant to join the U.S. to impose sanctions on Russia.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Friday, July 18, 2014, 9:29 AM
Updated: Friday, July 18, 2014, 2:55 PM
President Obama said the world must hold Russia to their word in the aftermath of the attack on the Malaysian Airlines jet, suggesting pro-Russian separatists could be responsible for shooting down the jet over Ukraine on Thursday killing all 298 people on board.
The President called the crash an “outrage of unspeakable proportions,” echoing international calls for a credible investigation.
“The eyes of the world are on eastern Ukraine, and we are going to make sure that the truth is out,” Obama said in a White House press conference Friday, confirming intelligence reports the airliner was shot down by a surface-to-air missile in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatists.
"A group of separatists can't shoot down military transport planes or, they claim, fighter jets, without sophisticated military equipment, and that comes from Russia," he said.
The “innocent lives” taken, “had nothing to do with the crisis in Ukraine,” he said, revealing that one American citizen, Quinn Lucas Schansman, was among those killed on the plane.
Schansman, who lived in both the Netherlands and the U.S., was the only U.S. citizen among the victims, according to Obama.
He was reportedly headed for a family vacation in Malaysia when he boarded Flight 17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
Obama said he hoped the attack would serve as a "wake-up" call to European leaders who have so far been reluctant to join the U.S. in imposing sanctions on Russia.
"We have to be firm in our resolve in making sure that we are supporting Ukraine in its efforts to bring about a just cease-fire," he said, adding "we don't see a U.S. military role."
Earlier this morning, Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, told the UN Security Council that the United States couldn't rule out suggestions that Russia had a role in the attack that brought down the plane.
U.S. intelligence believes the SA-11 missile was fired from an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists who previously boasted about obtaining such missiles. Russia has provided SA-11s and other heavy weapons to the separatists.
At Britain's urging, the UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting Friday morning in New York to discuss the downed plane.
Council members stood in a moment of silent tribute to the victims at the start of the meeting and members called for an investigation “in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines and for appropriate accountability.”
Power echoed the calls for a full investigation and pushed that "Russia needs to help make this happen."
Urging Russia to "take concrete steps to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine," she stressed, "this war can be ended. Russia can end this war. Russia must end this war."
Meanwhile, first responders sifted through debris at the crash site the day after the attack.
Emergency workers, police officers and even off-duty coal miners spread out across the sunflower fields and villages of eastern Ukraine, searching the wreckage of the jet, which was shot down as it flew miles above the country’s battlefield.
Ukraine has blamed Russian-backed rebels for the attack while Russia is pointing the finger at Ukraine.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott lashed out against Russian President Vladimir Putin for his "deeply, deeply unsatisfactory response” in blaming Ukraine and warned the West to hold Russia accountable.
"This is not an accident, it's a crime,” Abbott said, mourning the 27 Australian passengers killed.
“Criminals should not be allowed to get away with what they've done. So there has to be a full, impartial international investigation and Russia should certainly not be allowed to stand in the way of that," Abbott added.
Of the dead, 189 were from the Netherlands.
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Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was on vacation when the crash was reported but cut his trip short to return to the Hague. He spoke to the Ukrainian President on Thursday.
Though American officials, including FBI and NTSB investigators, are “poised” to assist in the investigation of the crash, local reports suggest the site has been compromised.
Separatist rebels who control the regions issued conflicting reports Friday about whether they had found the plane’s black boxes or not.
“No black boxes have been found ... we hope that experts will track them down and create a picture of what has happened,” said Donetsk separatist leader Aleksandr Borodai.
Yet earlier Friday, an aide to the military leader of Borodai’s group said authorities had recovered eight out of 12 recording devices.
Putin tried to quiet global criticism of his handling of the crisis on Friday, telling parties in the conflict in eastern Ukraine to lay down their arms and engage in talks.
“Peace in Ukraine must prevail as soon as possible,” he said, according to Russian news agencies, urging Kiev and pro-Russian insurgents to engage in direct talks to quell the violence.
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The attack Thursday afternoon killed people from nearly a dozen nations — including vacationers, students and as many as 100 scientists heading to an AIDS conference in Australia.
Former President Bill Clinton is traveling throughout Asia now and is scheduled to address the conference in Melbourne on July 23.
He called the crash "awful" and "sickening."
"Those people, they are really martyrs for the cause," he told CNN about the AIDs experts that were killed.
"Thinking about those people being knocked out of the sky, it’s pretty tough."
With News Wire Services
llarson@nydailynews.com
Comments
Another senseless tragedy, uncalled for loss of life affecting the citizens of many countries. Putin, the Hitler of our times, holds direct responsibility for this by providing arms and munitions to unprincipled thugs who wage war on their own citizens and innocents who cross their path. Israel on a war footing with terrorists in the middle east, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan overrun by murderers with guns. Folks, we are edging closer and closer to Armegeddon.
it's on
Monitors say access to Ukraine crash site limited
updated 3:27 PM EDT, Fri July 18, 2014
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Rebels couldn't have shot down the jetliner without backing, Obama says
- The President says Russia has been providing the rebels support and training
- U.S. envoy to United Nations says pro-Russia rebels likely fired missile at plane
- Ukrainian PM demands justice against the "terrorists" he blames for downing plane
Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- [Breaking news update, Friday, 3:27 p.m.]
(CNN) -- A spokesman for 21 international monitors who on Friday visited the Malaysia Airlines crash site in eastern Ukraine said the team wasn't "given the access that we expected."
Michael Bociurkiw, spokesman for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe team, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour the group was "only allowed access to about a 200-meter strip" for about 75 minutes at the site, which he said was guarded by armed men in uniform. "One of our top priorities was to find out what happened to the black boxes. No one was there to answer those questions," he said.
[Original story, Friday, 2:46 p.m.]
Obama: Malaysia Airlines jet shoot-down an 'outrage of unspeakable proportion'
(CNN) -- Russia likely bears some of the responsibility for the apparent downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, U.S. President Barack Obama indicated Friday, saying pro-Russian fighters in Ukraine couldn't have operated sophisticated surface-to-air missile batteries without Russian training and support.
In the administration's strongest words yet on the downing of the jet, which left 298 people dead, Obama said rebel fighters couldn't have operated the surface-to-air missile believed responsible for the shootdown "without sophisticated equipment and sophisticated training, and that is coming from Russia."
He and other U.S. officials stopped short of publicly placing the responsibility on Russia, which has denied any involvement in the destruction of the jetliner, whose debris lay strewn Friday across the eastern Ukraine farm field where it fell.
But a senior defense official told CNN that the "working theory" among U.S. intelligence analysts is that the Russian military supplied the Buk missile system to rebel fighters inside Ukraine.
U.S. officials believe the plane was "likely downed by a surface-to-air missile ... operated from a separatist-held location in eastern Ukraine," the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, told an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council.
In his remarks to reporters, Obama said that he did not want to get ahead of the facts of who may have been directly involved in the airliner's destruction. But he said the United States would work hard to hold accountable those responsible for it.
Obama confirmed that at least one U.S. citizen was aboard the plane; Quinn Lucas Schansman was a student at International Business School Hogeschool van Amsterdam, according to his Facebook page. A majority of the passengers (at least 173) were Dutch.
"No one can deny the truth that is revealed in the awful images that we all have seen, and the eyes of the world are on eastern Ukraine, and we are going to make sure that the truth is out," Obama said.
He called for an immediate cease-fire in the region and for a "credible international investigation" into what happened.
His comments echoed earlier statements by the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, who pointed the finger Friday at pro-Russian rebels. The plane went down near the town of Torez, in rebel territory in the Donetsk region.
Power told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that the plane was "likely downed by a surface-to-air missile ... operated from a separatist-held location in eastern Ukraine." If pro-Russian separatists are responsible for shooting down the plane with a missile, investigators can't rule out the possibility that Russia offered help to operate the system, she said.
Power also said Russia should take steps to cool tensions in Ukraine.
"Russia can end this war," she said. "Russia must end this war.
Evidence
Among the evidence cited by U.S. officials and others for their conclusions was an audio recording released by Ukrainian intelligence officials which purportedly feature pro-Russian rebels and Russian military officers discussing a surface-to-air strike and the crash of a civilian jetliner.
"How are things going there," a man identified as a Russian intelligence agent asks.
"Well, we are 100% sure that it was a civilian plane," a man identified as a pro-Russian fighter responds.
"Are there a lot of people?" the Russian officer asks.
The rebel fighter then utters an obscenity and says, "The debris was falling straight into the yards."
CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of this audio, or other similar recordings.
Also, in a news conference Friday, the chief of Ukraine's security service, Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, said the Buk missile system that shot down the airliner crossed the border from Russia only "right before" the attack. He didn't say how investigators know that, however
Ukraine's Interfax news agency reported claims by an adviser to Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Anton Geraschenko that the launcher, as well as the flight data recorders from MH17, were handed over to Russian agents across the border at a checkpoint in the Luhansk area overnight.
A senior Ukrainian official who spoke to CNN also accused Russia of carrying out a cover-up of its role in the shoot-down.
He cited video showing a Buk launcher being moved towards Russia overnight.
CNN could not independently confirm the claims.
Monitors visit crash site
A group of monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe arrived at the crash site Friday and inspected a portion of it, spokeswoman Natacha Rajakovic said from Vienna.
The 21-member team reported shots being fired into the air at the crash site, which she said was "not as secured as it should be."
The United States was sending at least one FBI agent and and at least one investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board.
Russia-Ukraine dispute
Tensions have been high between Ukraine and Russia since street protests forced former pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych from power in February. Russia subsequently annexed Ukraine's southeastern Crimea region, and a pro-Russian separatist rebellion has been raging in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Wreckage thought to be from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 lies in Ukraine on Thursday. This image was posted to Twitter.
Ukraine's government has accused Russia of allowing weapons and military equipment, including tanks, to cross the border illegally into the hands of pro-Russian rebels.
While Ukrainian officials implicated pro-Russian fighters and their Russian backers for the jetliner's downing, Moscow argued Ukraine was to blame.
"With regard to the claims raised by Kiev, that it was almost us who did it: In fact I haven't heard any truthful statements from Kiev over the past few months," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an exclusive interview with the state-run Russia 24 TV channel.
European Union leaders agreed this week to expand sanctions against individuals and entities in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine, with details to be decided by the end of the month. Expanded U.S. sanctions were also announced in Washington.
Airspace closed
The Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure announced Friday that the airspace over Donetsk, Luhansk and part of Kharkiv where rebels are operating had been closed indefinitely.
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai defended the routing of the Malaysia Airlines plane over the region, saying other carriers were sending their aircraft through the same airspace.
Three months ago, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration prohibited U.S. airlines from flying in areas some way south of where Flight 17 crashed Thursday. Thursday night, the FAA expanded the flight restrictions to all of eastern Ukraine.
Airline's troubles
Thursday's crash marks the second time this year that Malaysia Airlines has faced an incident involving a downed plane.
In March, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared with 239 people on board. Searchers have found no trace of the Boeing 777 or its passengers despite extensive search efforts.
Flight 370 probably flew into the southern Indian Ocean on autopilot with an unresponsive crew, Australian authorities said last month. A new underwater search is expected to begin in August.
updated 2:53 PM EDT, Fri July 18, 2014
Messages of shock and grief have been flooding social media, sent by the friends and relatives of passengers on board MH17.
updated 2:31 PM EDT, Fri July 18, 2014
The jet was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed close to the Ukraine-Russia border.
updated 8:57 AM EDT, Fri July 18, 2014
Burned rubble and a Bali guidebook. Twisted metal beside brightly-colored suitcases. Headphones and human remains.
updated 2:58 PM EDT, Fri July 18, 2014
Ukraine releases audio it says is of pro-Russian rebels admitting: "We have just shot down a plane."
updated 6:53 PM EDT, Thu July 17, 2014
Speculation about the MH17 crash centers on the possibility it was shot down as it passed over volatile eastern Ukraine.
updated 9:10 AM EDT, Fri July 18, 2014
New video and photos reportedly show a Malaysia Airlines flight that crashed near the Ukraine-Russia border.
updated 10:23 AM EDT, Fri July 18, 2014
No matter who did it, shooting down a commercial airliner with almost 300 people aboard risks gravely escalating an already dangerous conflict.
updated 11:25 AM EDT, Fri July 18, 2014
The full picture of how and why MH17 came down over eastern Ukraine is far from clear.
updated 10:45 PM EDT, Thu July 17, 2014
Commercial airlines that normally cross eastern Ukraine on flights to Europe and Asia are detouring away from the volatile region.
updated 9:11 AM EDT, Fri July 18, 2014
Amateur video reportedly shows the moment Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in Ukraine.
updated 8:47 AM EDT, Fri July 18, 2014
The loss of a second Boeing 777 jetliner in 131 days threatens Malaysia Airlines with another public relations and financial blow.
updated 6:11 AM EDT, Fri July 18, 2014
In the last few days, two Ukrainian warplanes were brought down over Eastern Ukraine. Was MH17 also attacked?
updated 11:07 AM EDT, Fri July 18, 2014
U.S. officials say they believe that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was brought down by a surface-to-air missile.
updated 10:29 AM EDT, Fri July 18, 2014
Ukraine has blamed "terrorists" for the loss of MH17. Since 1973, at least five passenger planes have been shot down.
Ukrainian air traffic controllers lost contact with Flight MH17 50 kilometers from the Russia-Ukraine border.
updated 9:10 AM EDT, Fri July 18, 2014
New photos reportedly show a Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam that came down near the Ukraine-Russia border.
updated 9:13 AM EDT, Fri April 11, 2014
One of the key questions asked after any serious airline incident is, how do we stop this happening again?
updated 12:12 AM EDT, Fri April 11, 2014
After air disasters, protocol, technology and laws are often changed to avert similar incidents happening in future.
updated 8:26 PM EDT, Thu July 17, 2014
Here's a look at what you need to know about commercial passenger airplane crashes.
updated 6:34 AM EDT, Wed July 10, 2013
I didn't expect my 5-year-old daughter to first learn about airplane crashes while we were in the air.
Another senseless tragedy, uncalled for loss of life affecting the citizens of many countries. Putin, the Hitler of our times, holds direct responsibility for this by providing arms and munitions to unprincipled thugs who wage war on their own citizens and innocents who cross their path. Israel on a war footing with terrorists in the middle east, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan overrun by murderers with guns. Folks, we are edging closer and closer to Armegeddon.