In connection with the terrible tragic events which occurred in the sky above Donetsk, I would like once again to say how we in Russia regard the events that are going on today in Ukraine.

We have repeatedly called on all sides of the conflict to immediately cease bloodshed and sit down at the negotiation table. With confidence we can say that if the combat actions in the east of Ukraine had not been renewed on June 28, then this tragedy would not likely have happened.

Meanwhile, no one should, nor has the right to exploit this tragedy to achieve selfish political aims.  Such events should not divide but should united people. It is necessary that all people who have responsibility for the situation in the region increase their accountability both before their own people and the people of the countries whose representatives became victims of this catastrophe.

We must do everything to ensure the security of the work of international experts at the site of the tragedy. Today representatives of Donbass, Donetsk, the representatives of the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry and experts from Malaysia are already working there. But that is not enough.

It is necessary that a full-fledged group of experts under the aegis of the International Civil Aviation Organization works at the site of the catastrophe. Everything must be done to ensure its full, absolute security and to ensure the necessary humanitarian corridors for its work.

For its part, Russia will do everything that depends on it so that the conflict in the east of Ukraine moves from today's military phase to the phase of discussion at the negotiation table by peaceful and exclusively diplomatic means.