Elena Teslova
January 10, 2020•Update: January 10, 2020
MOSCOW
Amid reports that a Ukrainian plane that crashed in Tehran Wednesday, killing everyone on board, may have been brought down by an Iranian missile, Ukraine’s president has thanked the top U.S. diplomat for sharing more information on the crash.
On Twitter Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky thanked U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after a phone call, saying: "Grateful for the condolences of the American people & valuable support of the U.S. in investigating the causes of the plane crash. Information obtained from the U.S. will assist in the investigation."
In turn, Pompeo expressed condolences over the crash of Ukrainian International Airlines flight 752, saying on Twitter: “We stand with Ukraine and are ready to offer our support and assistance in the ongoing investigation."
Earlier today Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine's foreign minister, said that the U.S. had shared information about the crash with Kiev.
"Together with President Vladimir Zelensky, we met with representatives of the United States, in particular with the head of the Embassy in Ukraine, Christina Queen. We have received important data that will be processed by our specialists," Prystaiko said.
On Thursday the U.S., U.K. and Canada said they had evidence suggesting an Iranian surface-to-air missile had shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet.
Iran denied the allegations, calling them "a lie and psychological operation of the U.S."
The Boeing 737-800 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport just hours after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles targeting U.S. troops in Iraq in retaliation for last week’s killing of Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian general.
Some 176 people died in the crash, including Iranians, Canadians, Ukrainians, Swedes, Afghans, Germans, and British citizens.
