--- description: The Secretary of State says Russia needs to claim responsibility for giving Ukraine separatists arms that are suspected of downing MH17. title: Malaysia Airlines Ukraine Crash: Kerry Tells Russia to Take Responsibility image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8240f748bde3dfcf/69869c79f983e7c6e704ee79/john-kerry1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [russia](/tag/russia/) ## russia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Malaysia Airlines Ukraine Crash: Kerry Tells Russia to Take Responsibility  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 20, 2014 3:42 PM CUT  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry attends the Strategic Dialogue expanded meeting with Chinese officials including Wan Gang, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology during the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on July 10, 2014 in Beijing, China. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry attends the Strategic Dialogue expanded meeting with Chinese officials including Wan Gang, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology during the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on July 10, 2014 in Beijing, China.Pool—Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 20, 2014 3:42 PM CUT Secretary of State John Kerry asked Russia on Sunday to “step up” and take responsibility for the Ukrainian rebels who are suspected of shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which crashed in eastern Ukraine on Thursday. “It’s pretty clear that this is a system that was transferred from Russia,” Kerry said on CNN’s _State of the Union_. Kerry said the U.S. observed significant arms supplies, including rocket launchers and tanks, moving from Russia into the hands of separatists in the Ukraine in recent weeks. The U.S. also intercepted conversations about the transfer of a missile system that the U.S. suspects downed the airplane, which was [carrying close to 300 people](http://time.com/3009139/malaysia-airlines-ukraine-crash-black-boxes/ "undefined"). There were no survivors. “The separatist are in control,” Kerry said in a separate Sunday appearance on NBC’s _Meet the Press_. “And it is clear that Russia supports the separatists, supplies the separatist, encourages the separatists, trains the separatists, and Russia needs to step up and make a difference here.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3009416/malaysia-airlines-ukraine-crash-kerry-russia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3009416/malaysia-airlines-ukraine-crash-kerry-russia/"},"headline":"Malaysia Airlines Ukraine Crash: Kerry Tells Russia to Take Responsibility","datePublished":"2014-07-20T15:42:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:14:56.759Z","description":"The Secretary of State says Russia supplied Ukraine separatists with missile systems","url":"https://time.com/3009416/malaysia-airlines-ukraine-crash-kerry-russia/","keywords":["russia","Ukraine"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8240f748bde3dfcf/69869c79f983e7c6e704ee79/john-kerry1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8240f748bde3dfcf/69869c79f983e7c6e704ee79/john-kerry1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John Kerry","caption":"John Kerry","creditText":"Pool—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/russia/","name":"russia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3009416/malaysia-airlines-ukraine-crash-kerry-russia/","name":"Malaysia Airlines Ukraine Crash: Kerry Tells Russia to Take Responsibility"}}]}] ```