Australian Foreign Minister’s accusations against Russia are road to nowhere - Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW, June 16. /TASS/. Anti-Russian Cold War clichés sounding from Canberra are a road to nowhere, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, commenting on the statements by Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop addressed to the Russian side. "Some days ago, Bishop lashed out at Russia over the Ukrainian crisis, there were accusations addressed to "separatists" in the southeast of the country who allegedly blocked the MH17 crash site last July not allowing international experts to visit the site," the ministry said. "She cynically added that because of their support by Russia it was impossible to timely repatriate the remains and personal belongings of many Australians who were among the victims." "Canberra was allegedly forced to raise the issue during the conversation with the Russian President on the sidelines of the Brisbane G20 events in November 2014," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "Such statements by the Australian minister confirm that in the assessment of developments in Ukraine the sense of reality has not returned to politicians in Canberra toeing the line of their overseas mentors," the ministry said. "Bishop should have remembered the details of her conversation with the Russian leader in the framework of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Milan in October and of Putin’s conversation with Prime Minister Tony Abbot ‘on the sidelines’ of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing in November 2014." The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the efforts of the militias "made it possible to ensure the timely removal of the bodies and personal belongings of the plane crash victims and, most importantly, prevented them from being destroyed by the Ukrainian artillery." It was militias that "ensured the inviolability of the flight data recorders and handed them over to international experts. "The duplication of anti-Russian Cold War clichés still used in Canberra is a road to nowhere. By resorting to such remarks Bishop leads the Russian-Australian relations down a blind alley," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Read more