KIEV, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the Boeing-737 aircraft crash near Tehran during a telephone conversation with Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and invited Stockholm to join in the investigation of the tragedy that also took the lives of Swedish citizens, the Ukrainian president's office said on Thursday.
Zelensky said Ukraine is ready to join in the investigation according to international law, noting a group of Ukrainian experts arrived in Iran yesterday and would study the plane crash site.
"We are making all the necessary efforts to find out the causes of this crash and are ready to cooperate with Sweden closely. Our goal is to find out the truth. This is the main thing," Zelensky said.
For his part, the Swedish prime minister conveyed the condolences from the people of Sweden and said that Stockholm is ready to help with all possible means to ensure a transparent investigation.
Later, Zelensky held a telephone conversation with his Afghani counterpart Ashraf Ghani and expressed his sincere condolences over the death of Afghani citizens during the plane crash.
Ukraine International Airlines stated that 167 passengers and 9 crew members were killed as a result of the plane crash of its Boeing-737 aircraft, which was flying from Tehran to Kiev. The airplane crashed at approximately 6 a.m. Tehran Time on Wednesday shortly after takeoff.
