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(Russia's President Vladimir Putin looks on while speaking with journalists in Itamaraty Palace in Brazilia, early on July 17, 2014. (AFP))[/caption]President Barack Obama said Thursday that the passenger plane downed over Ukraine “looks like it may be a terrible tragedy” and his top priority is finding out whether American citizens were on board.
Obama said he’s directed his help to stay in close contact with Ukrainian officials and offer the United States help to determine what caused the crash.
Obama press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama was on a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin when news of the downed plane broke.
Earnest and the Kremlin said Putin mentioned those early reports in the call, but provided no details of what the two leaders said about it.
“The world is watching reports of a downed passenger jet near the Russia-Ukraine border,” Obama said later as he took the stage for a speech in Delaware to discuss transportation funding.
“It looks like it might be a terrible tragedy. Right now we’re working to determine whether there were American citizens on board. That is our first priority.”
Situational call
Shortly after Obama spoke, Earnest said Vice President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Ukraine President Poroshenko to offer the United States assistance to help to determine what happened and why.
The rest of the phone call between Obama and Putin was dedicated to the general situation in eastern Ukraine.
The Federal Aviation Administration had warned the United States pilots earlier this year not to fly over portions of the Ukraine in the Crimea region, according to notices posted on the agency’s website.
The notices were posted on April 23.
(The Associated Press, Washington)
(Al Arabiya News, 17 Thursday July 2014 The Roman)
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