Global General
Presidents of Russia, Poland mark crash date
(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-04-11 22:42
 |
Large Medium Small |
|
 Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev (R) and his Polish counterpart Bronislaw Komorowski attend a commemoration ceremony at the site of a plane crash that killed former Poland's President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others near the Russian city of Smolensk, April 11, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]
|
|
||||
The two leaders sought to play down the simmering row over the plaque commemorating the victims of the crash.
Medvedev and Komorowski announced Monday that a joint group would decide on the best plaque to commemorate the crash victims.
Komorowski also said Warsaw is waiting for Moscow to transfer the recording from the plane's flight recorders, but Medvedev indicated that the probe was closed.
"No one should doubt that Russia has given a thorough assessment of the reasons why that happened," he said.
Poland accepts that its pilot and crew bear the brunt of the blame for the disaster, as the Russian-led investigation found. But Warsaw also insists that Russia should concede that its air traffic controllers at the Smolensk airport may have been at fault for not advising the plane's crew strongly enough to land elsewhere due to the bad weather.
After holding talks, Medvedev and Komorowski traveled to the crash site to pay their respects to the victims.
An outpouring of sympathy from Russians over the 2010 plane crash had helped improve relations between Moscow and Warsaw, but squabbles continue to dog the official investigation.
The issue has deepened political divisions in Poland, where some including the late president's brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, accuse the current Polish government of having too much faith in Moscow's investigation.
| 分享按钮 |