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. 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.”
- AI Is Not an Arms Race
- The 30 Most Anticipated Movies of Summer 2023
- Here's What's in the Debt Ceiling Deal
- India’s Female Wrestlers Are Saying #MeToo
- The End of Succession
- What Erdoğan’s Victory Means for Turkey—and the World
- Why Everyone Is Having Bad Sex (Especially Young People)
- Florence Pugh Might Just Save the Movie Star From Extinction