Press Statement YB. Dato’ Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein Minister of Defence, Malaysia Kiev, Ukraine 8 September 2014 Today, I met with the Deputy Defence Minister of Ukraine, HE Admiral Ihor Kabanenko. We had a discussion regarding cooperation on the investigation into the MH17 incident and defence exchanges between Malaysia and Ukraine. Based on our meeting, HE Admiral Ihor Kabanenko has reaffirmed that Ukraine will extend their assistance and cooperation towards resumption of the search, recovery and investigation operations at the crash site. We agreed that in principle, an international team comprising of personnel from Australia, the Netherlands and Malaysia should gain early safe access into the MH17 crash site in east Ukraine. This international team would be working together with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and other relevant international partners to ensure multilateral cooperation. Tomorrow, I will be meeting with a representative from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and also the Combined Joint International Task Force (CJITF) to discuss on this matter. HE Admiral Ihor Kabanenko and myself have also agreed to work together to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice. Major General Bohdan Bondar, Chief of the Command Center of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, also gave myself and the delegation a thorough brief on the current complex situation in east Ukraine. From this briefing, it has come to my understanding that the crash site, which is within the conflict area, is currently volatile and inaccessible. In addition, I will also be meeting my counterpart, the Ukrainian Defence Minister HE Mr Valeriy Heletey tomorrow. It is imperative that we remain as inclusive as possible and to get everyone on board. This is truly an international effort and we are fortunate not to be alone in this. - end -
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 05:45:57 +0000
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