Ukraine warned Netherlands of danger before MH17 disaster: Dutch government

Ukraine had informed the Netherlands about the dangerous situation in its airspace before the MH17 crash in July last year, but the latter had not passed the information to airlines, the Dutch government said Thursday.

Three days before the crash, a Ukrainian military cargo plane was shot down from great height in the east of the country and then a Ukrainian government spokesperson explained the situation in a briefing to "diplomats from a wide group of friendly nations," the Dutch government said in a letter to the parliament.

The Dutch embassy in Kiev had reported about the meeting through "usual interdepartmental channels," according to the government.

"Ukraine especially urged a firm position of the international community against Russian interference in the conflict. That was the main message of this briefing," said the letter, adding that the downing of a Ukrainian military plane was called an example of the increasing escalation of the crisis.

However, the information about the security situation of the Ukrainian airspace did not lead to the conclusion that additional measures had to be taken, such as informing the airlines, the government said.

In the letter, the government did not explain why the information was not shared with the airlines.

The MH17 flight crashed on July 17, 2014 over Ukraine airspace, killing 298 passengers on board, of whom 196 were Dutch citizens. Endi