As world leaders negotiate over access to the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in Ukraine, people are wondering whether Russia—if it was involved in the tragedy-- would ever admit responsibility. Reno resident and former Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, Ty Cobb, says Russia should step up and take responsibility. "I’m convinced they either assisted in the training of the separatists who fired the missile, or more likely, that Russians themselves were responsible for contributing the surface to air missile battery," said Cobb.
Cobb spent five years as Director for Soviet, European and Canadian affairs in the Reagan administration, and he continues to study Russian politics. He’s been watching to see how Russian president Vladimir Putin will handle the shootdown of the Malaysia airliner over Ukraine. "They really would be well-served to admit that they had complicity in this; that they either fired the rockets or missiles or they were assisting the separatists in doing so and a horrible mistake was made," he explained.
Cobb says he doesn't know if, or when, that might happen. Cobb says Putin's support for Russian separatists in Ukraine is popular with the Russian people. "Putin’s popularity has soared and part of it is due to the fact that the information they receive is largely controlled through the state media," Cobb said.
He believes the international incident has put Putin is at a crossroads. “Putin's at a point where he has to make a major decision. He has to decide are they going to be a modern, responsible state or are they going to continue to play the role that the KGB and former Soviet Union did?"
And if Russia doesn't cooperate in the investigation? "If they don't, I think Putin’s digging himself into a really deep hole and that they're going to be isolated from the civilized world."
For more information on Russia and Ukraine you can visit Ty Cobb’s “National Security Forum” website.
