Apropos 'Downing of Malaysian airliner: Crisis grows as Obama points to [pro-Russia] separatists' carried by Business Recorder on Saturday, the ongoing Ukraine crisis seems to have acquired a highly dangerous dimension. As per media reports, US President Barack Obama has said that a surface-to-air missile fired from separatist-held territory in eastern Ukraine is to blame for the "unspeakable" downing of a Malaysian airliner carrying nearly 300 people.
Obama has also reportedly said the disaster is a "wake-up" call for European nations that have been wary of toughening sanctions against Russia over its role in Ukraine and revealed that one American was among the dead in the disaster.
He has demanded that Russian President Vladimir Putin act to control pro-Moscow rebels in Ukraine, and said they would not have been able to his an airliner flying at 30,000 feet without Russian equipment and training.
The situation is profound. The United Nations has made the right move by demanding an investigation into the shooting down of the plane. Russian President Putin has also underscored the need for a thorough probe into the airline tragedy. It is a human tragedy of great magnitude. The investigators must be allowed free access to evidences to help them determine the circumstances and events that led to this tragedy. Both Ukraine and Russia must not be allowed to seize flight recorders.