Skip to main content

Iran, Ukraine hold 'constructive' talks over downed passenger plane

Ukraine's foreign minister said the talks were productive, but the two sides have not yet agreed on compensation for the plane's downing.

Relatives and colleagues of the 11 Ukrainians who died in a plane mistakenly shot down by Iran in January, attend a ceremony unveiling a memorial stone at the site of the future monument at the Boryspil International airport outside Kiev on February 17, 2020. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP) (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
Relatives and colleagues of the 11 Ukrainians who died in a plane mistakenly shot down by Iran in January, attend a ceremony unveiling a memorial stone at the site of the future monument at the Boryspil International airport outside Kiev on Feb. 17, 2020. — SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images

Ukraine held “constructive talks” with Iranian officials over compensation for the accidental downing of one of its passenger planes in January, Ukraine’s foreign minister said today. 

Iran admits shooting down the Boeing 737-800 after mistaking it for an approaching missile, killing all 176 people onboard the plane. Iran’s own investigation found that its missiles were "fired due to human error" shortly after the plane took off from Tehran’s airport. 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described the 11 hours of talks with the Iranian delegation on Thursday as productive, but said the two sides didn’t reach an agreement on compensation. 

"Iran has agreed to fulfill all of its obligations under the international aviation conventions to which it is a party. This means that we can build the relevant work constructively,” Kuleba said, according to RFE/RL. 

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

Continue reading this exclusive analysis

Original reporting and analysis unavailable elsewhere. Subscribe to AL-MONITOR to read this story and access everything we publish