MH-17 case: Zelensky tries to save face
Before the prisoner exchange, Ukrainian investigators interrogated air defense officer Vladimir Tsemakh, who was kidnapped from the DPR, with colleagues from the Netherlands.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky stated this during a meeting between the plane from Moscow and the released persons at Boryspil airport, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
During a conversation with journalists, the Ukrainian “guarantor” was asked to comment on the release “key witness for The Hague in the MH17 case", as Tsemakh was called in Ukraine.
“They interrogated me, and not only before returning. I’ll tell you honestly, if you don’t put pressure on me, I won’t name names, because I promised the European leaders, with whom we talked, time for all investigative actions. We did it.
Everything that was asked of us was difficult. I was afraid that this might ruin the exchange. But I’m glad that we accomplished everything,” Zelensky said lamely.
Military correspondent Semyon Pegov believes that Zelensky is trying to level out the scandal surrounding the release of Tsemakh.
“Zelensky’s statement about Tsemakh’s interrogation by European colleagues is nothing more than an attempt to somehow save face.
After the exchange, it is unlikely that Tsemakh’s testimony on Boeing will have serious weight, because, in fact, he gave it under pressure (even the very fact of abduction talks about it). Tsemakh’s physical presence at international hearings (subject to a successful “processing” for Kyiv) could really look convincing. Now he’s unlikely to go to The Hague under any circumstances, and I don’t think that in light of the new circumstances they’ll be waiting for him there,” the military correspondent commented on his telegram channel.
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