Poland has sovereign right to reopen Smolensk air crash inquiry - Russian Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW. Feb 4 (Interfax) - Poland has the sovereign right to reopen the inquiry into the crash of the aircraft of the former Polish president, Lech Kaczynski, near Smolensk, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said.
"A sovereign right of a sovereign state. If they have questions that remain unclear, it seems to me they have to answer them themselves," she said at a briefing in Moscow, commenting on Warsaw's relevant decision.
"Of course, we would very much like to hope this is nothing to do with politics. It is a faint hope but it does exist," Zakharova added.
After the air crash Moscow took unprecedented steps and demonstrated friendly intentions towards Poland, the Russian diplomat said.
"It was a shock not only for the Poles, it was a shock for us too. I think that all those who were involved in this matter in one way or another remember that the Russian leadership not only declared, but proved in practice that it sees this tragedy as its own, as the tragedy of the Russian people as well, and is more than others keen on clarifying the causes," Zakharova said.
"From our point of view, the causes have been clarified," she added.