President Obama said the world is watching the reports of the Malaysia Airlines jetliner that was shot down in a part of eastern Ukraine that has been held by Russian separatists.
In mentioning that his team was looking for any Americans on the plane, Obama said, “It looks like it might be a terrible tragedy. That is our first priority. The United States will offer any assistance we can to help determine what happened, and why.”
Even though State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki stated that they cannot the exact number of the number of casualties or even the cause of the crash, other Ukrainian officials have stated that the flight carried 300 passengers. They also mentioned that the Malaysian Airlines 777 was shot down by Russian separatists.
While she also said that the US embassy in Kiev is in close contact with Ukrainian authorities, she also said that there was no additional information just yet even if they were looking for further information.
In regard to the incident, Obama and Russian President Putin had a conversation while Biden and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Speaker Boehner also spoke of the incident by mentioning that a number of incidents were killed and the need for one to “reflect, count our blessings and convey prayers to the loved ones of the victims”.
It was not long before that the Obama administration made an announcement about the latest economic sanctions on Russia which was discussed when Obama and Putin had their conversation about this incident.
This is the second time that something as catastrophic has happened to Malaysian airlines with another flight disappearing in southeast Asia.