WASHINGTON — President Obama pointed the finger at Russian-backed separatists in the downing of the Malaysian airliner — saying the US has “confidence” that the plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile from territory that the rebels control.
While urging patience as the facts unfold, Obama began assembling a case of Russian culpability. He noted that “this is not the first time a plane has been shot down in eastern Ukraine,” observing that separatists have taken down a Ukrainian transport plane and helicopter, while claiming to have taken out a fighter.
He noted that Russia has given “heavy weapons” — and anti-aircraft weapons.
And, pointing to prior missile strikes, he stressed that separatists couldn’t shoot down a plane at 33,000 feet “without sophisticated equipment and sophisticated training, and that is coming from Russia.”
In stark and emotional language, the president spoke of the nearly 300 people who lost their lives — while calling out Russia for fueling the conflict in Ukraine by shipping arms to rebels who want to break away from Kiev.
“Their deaths are an outrage of unspeakable proportions,” Obama declared at the White House.
He called the event a “global tragedy” and revealed that a US citizen, Quinn Lucas Schansman, was killed, making him the only known American casualty.
Obama said the US stands “shoulder to shoulder” with the Dutch nation in its grief, with about half those on board coming from the Netherlands.
Asked specifically about Russian President Vladimir Putin, Obama urged caution, then said the separatists’ training happened “because of Russian support,” and appealed for an immediate ceasefire on all sides.
FBI and federal transportation experts are on the way to assist in the investigation, the president confirmed.
Obama said the event should be a “wake-up call for Europe and the world that there are consequences to an escalating conflict in eastern Ukraine.” The US has struggled since the Russian-backed invasion of Crimea to muster solidarity among Western European nations that have substantial trade ties to Russia.
In what seemed like a clear reference to Russian media spin that the crash was an accident or that Ukraine was to blame, Obama called for analysis that is “factually based.”
“We don’t have time for propaganda,” Obama said.
“We are going to make sure the truth is out,” he continued.
Obama also called attention to the roughly 100 researchers who were on their way to an AIDS conference and tragically lost their lives. “It’s important for us to lift them up and to affirm their lives,” he said.