Statements 2014 | Embassy of the United States Kyiv, Ukraine

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  • U.S. Officials : Russia Not Directly Involved in Downing MH17
    http://mashable.com/2014/07/22/us-russia-link-to-mh17-plane

    Senior U.S. intelligence officials said Russia is responsible for “creating the conditions” that led to the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, but there’s no evidence that the Russian government was directly involved in the shooting.

    The unnamed intelligence officials said Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine likely shot down the plane with an SA-11 surface-to-air missile. While they confirmed that Russia has been arming the separatists for months, the officials didn’t provide proof that the missile used to shoot down the Boeing 777 actually came from Russia.

    The most likely explanation, according to a senior official, is that the plane was shot down by mistake. The most likely explanation, according to a senior official, is that the plane was shot down by mistake.

    According to the Associated Press, the officials briefed reporters on Tuesday with the stipulation that their names not be used in discussing intelligence related to MH17. They said they didn’t know if any Russians were present at the missile launch, and they wouldn’t say that the missile crew was trained in Russia.

    The Obama administration, however, has been pointing the finger at Russia for backing the separatists, who have been fighting with Ukrainian forces for months. On Monday, President Obama said Russia had gone beyond just arming the separatists — it had trained them to use the heavy-duty artillery.

    Russia has extraordinary influence over these separatists. No one denies that. Russia has urged them on. Russia has trained them,” Obama said. “We know that Russia has armed them with military equipment and weapons, including anti-aircraft weapons. Key separatist leaders are Russian citizens.

    The intelligence officials who spoke with reporters on Monday were tight-lipped in terms of who fired the missile.

    We don’t know a name, we don’t know a rank and we’re not even 100% sure of a nationality,” one official said, adding at another point, “There is not going to be a Perry Mason moment here.

    Ce qui n’empêche pas les politiques de reprendre la position ukrainienne…

    Meanwhile, Russia presented its own evidence on Monday, reiterating that it wasn’t involved in the shooting down of MH17 and focused on reasons why the world should be looking into the Ukrainian government instead. Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko called the accusation an irresponsible and false statement.

    The White House on Monday said Russia’s counter-narrative was an attempt to thwart attention away from the nation’s involvement.

    What’s clear is that there is a picture that’s coming into focus,” said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. “Russian claims to the contrary are getting both more desperate and much harder to believe.

    … puisqu’on vous dit que c’est pas vrai !