Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday that the trial of four fugitive suspects charged in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 is a “critical moment in the search for justice.”
Pompeo said the U.S. “welcomes” the trial, which is set to begin Monday in the Netherlands, and encouraged all states “to cooperate in efforts to establish accountability.”
“As the trial begins, we recall the UN Security Council’s demand that ‘those responsible … be held to account and that all States cooperate fully with efforts to establish accountability,’” Pompeo said in a statement.
“This trial is a critical moment in the search for justice for the families and friends of the 298 individuals who lost their lives on July 17, 2014,” he added.
The four individuals on trial, who are not expected to appear, include three Russians and a Ukrainian. All were leaders of pro-Russian militias in eastern Ukraine.
In his statement, Pompeo said the U.S. has “the utmost confidence” in the Dutch legal system and supports the work of the Joint Investigation Team, which determined the missile was shot from an area in Ukraine that was in control of pro-Russian separatists.
Pompeo encouraged Russia “to cease its continuing aggressive and destabilizing activities in Ukraine.”
Russia has denied its involvement in the flight’s downing, calling the investigation team’s results a “biased, one-sided nature of the inquiry,” according to NL Times.
The State Department signed at least three statements condemning the attack in 2018.