Russia and Putin · 2016 campaign · № 6
Said of the MH17 shootdown that Russia says 'it wasn't them' and 'you'll probably never know for sure'
“They say it wasn't them. It may have been their weapon, but they didn't use it, they didn't fire it, they even said the other side fired it to blame them. I mean to be honest with you, you'll probably never know for sure.”
- Said
- , Interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe, followed by a statement to CNN
- Subject
- MH17 shootdown
- Type
- Intelligence and security
- Topic
- Ukraine & Russia
- Era
- 2016 campaign
What happened
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine in 2014. Trump was asked about a report released the previous day by Dutch investigators that the plane was brought down by a Russian-made rocket and warhead, and what he would do as president to hold Russia accountable. CNN reported that U.S. intelligence had determined with confidence soon after the attack that a Russian-supplied missile fired from separatist-controlled territory brought the jet down, and that it stood by that assessment. Asked by CNN about the U.S. assessment, Trump said: 'It's disgusting and disgraceful but Putin and Russia say they didn't do it, the other side said they did, no one really knows who did it, probably Putin knows who did it. Possibly it was Russia but they are totally denying it.' He later said the culprit was 'probably' Russia and pro-Russian fighters, but that 'we really probably won't know for sure'.