Thank you, Madam President, for the opportunity to participate in the discussion on such an important issue for my country.

I would also like to thank Under-Secretary Feltman and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands for their briefings today.

Two days ago, it had been two months since the terrible tragedy in the Ukrainian sky took lives of about 300 people. Nothing can heal the pain of this terrible loss. No words of condolence can soothe families and friends of the victims of this tragedy.

Our duty is to find perpetrators of this crime and bring them to accountability for the sake of justice and to ensure that such tragedies will not happen in the future.

From the very first day of the tragedy, Ukraine has been demonstrating its openness and commitment to transparent and inclusive international cooperation in order to establish the true cause of the crash. Following the UN SC Resolution 2166 co-sponsored by Ukraine, as well as given the fact that the vast majority of the victims were citizens of the Netherlands, we transferred the right to investigate the air crash to the Dutch Safety Board. By doing this, we contributed to ensuring a fair, objective and impartial investigation. The Safety Board is being assisted by experts from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Ukraine, UK, USA, Russia, ICAO, European Aviation Safety Agency and other parties concerned.

In addition, relevant authorities of Ukraine have been providing necessary support to the International Mission for Protection of Investigation, that was established through the agreement between Ukraine and the Kingdom of Netherlands and that facilitates the recovery of the remains of the victims and the conduct of the investigation called for by the Resolution 2166.

Ukraine remains committed to the Resolution 2166, fully respecting the ceasefire and allowing for security and safety of the international investigation in the immediate area surrounding the crash site.

However, the illegal armed groups, who control the crash site, have been jeopardizing investigators’ efforts. Before international experts arrived on the crash site for the first time, the Russia-controlled militants had already worked there, so to say, clearing the evidences. They are not interested in revealing the truth, which can obviously be harmful for them and for those who support them.

Madam President,

The Dutch Safety Board's (DSB) preliminary investigation report established that the causes of the accident of the MH17 flight were external factors, indicating that the plane was shot down by surface-to-air missile.

It adds to our confidence that the MH17 was shot down by a Russian missile launched by Russian mercenaries.

The Russian Federation keeps sending powerful air defense systems to support militants in the east of Ukraine and these facts are repeatedly registered not only by the Ukrainian intelligence, but also by the intelligence agencies of other countries.

Therefore, we have to say again that the tragedy of the MH17 would not have happened if militants had not got access to the sophisticated Russian weapons such as air defense systems capable of hitting targets at the altitude of 10 kilometers.

Unfortunately, the tragedy with the MH17 flight has not taught Russia a good lesson. Moscow continues to deny that it is feeding terrorists with heavy and newest weaponry. All attempts by Russia to shift the responsibility for this terrible attack on someone else do not withstand any criticism.

Russian leadership keeps on repeating the necessity to stop bloodshed, whereas it continues to contribute to the escalation of the conflict by supporting terrorists, sending in mercenaries and regular troops, violating Ukrainian-Russian state border and shelling Ukrainian troops from its territory.

None of the provisions of the Minsk Protocol form 5 September 2014 was implemented by Russia. On daily basis, we has been recording numerous cease-fire violations by both Russian troops and Moscow-controlled militants. In total, they have broken the ceasefire and shelled Ukrainian military and civilians 480 times since the truce started. As a result, 22 Ukrainian military were killed and 138 wounded.  

Russia continues its military buildup along the border with Ukraine, as well as in temporary occupied Crimea. Russian artillery and mortar shelling of the territory of Ukraine, which, inter alia, was confirmed by OSCE monitors, have become a daily threat for Ukrainian servicemen and civilians on the ground.

Therefore, we urge once again both Russia and Russia-controlled militants to comply with its commitments, including those undertaken in accordance with Minsk Protocol to ensure access of the International Mission to the crash site as well as to ensure safety and security of the international civil aviation flights.

We expect that the final results of the investigation, impartiality of which is beyond any doubt, will make it possible to confirm a real cause of the catastrophe, as well as establish perpetrators of this brutal terrorist act to bring them to justice.