Russia pledges objective investigation into Polish air crash

MOSCOW, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Russia would spare no efforts in drawing an objective conclusion soon for the probe into the tragic Smolensk air crash that claimed lives of Polish presidential couple and dozens of other senior officials, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov here Saturday.

When meeting with Polish Defense Minister Bodgan Klich, Ivanov said the Russian side will rule out any unnecessary speculation on the issue via analyzing the data from flight recorders of the crashed plane.

Klich said it is "joint responsibility" for the Polish and Russian governments to clarify the reasons for this tragedy.

Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia's Investigative Committee, said the same day that up to 70 investigators and experts have been working on the air crash near the western Russian city of Smolensk on April 10. Over the week some 60 witnesses have been questioned, and up to 3,000 technical identifications have been made.

Russia would continue to maintain close contact with Poland on information exchange during the investigative process, said Bastrykin.