U.N. Security Council demands access to Ukraine plane crash site

  • 10 years ago
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STORY: The United Nations Security Council on Monday (July 21) condemned the downing of a Malaysian passenger plane in Ukraine with 298 people on board and demanded that armed groups allow "safe, secure, full and unrestricted access" to the crash site.

The 15-member council unanimously adopted an Australian-drafted resolution demanding those responsible "be held to account and that all states cooperate fully with efforts to establish accountability."

"I cannot begin to fathom the pain and anguish their family and friends are experiencing," said Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who traveled to New York to negotiate the U.N. resolution. Australia lost 28 citizens in the crash.

The United States and its allies have blamed pro-Russian rebels for downing the plane. Separatists in east Ukraine have been fighting government forces since protesters in Kiev forced out a pro-Moscow president and Russia annexed Crimea in March.

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