Polish defence minister says Russia admits Smolensk crash unsolved

Macierewicz cited an interview that the Russian ambassador in Poland gave in the lead-up to Friday's bilateral talks in Moscow involving the deputy foreign ministers of both countries.

Referring to Russia's failure to return the wreck of the Tu-154M plane in which 96 Poles died, Ambassador Sergey Andreyev told Poland's Rzeczpospolita daily that it would be returned “when both Polish and Russian investigations are in agreement on the basic causes of the disaster.”

Macierewicz has said that Andreyev's remarks were “an admission that those causes are still not explained.”

Following the April 2010 crash, an official Polish report pointed to a catalogue of Polish errors as well as to mistakes made by Russian staff at the control tower of Smolensk Military Airport. A Russian report placed all the blame on the Polish side.

A Russian investigation is ongoing, and Moscow has consistently said that the wreck will be returned when the probe is over.

However, Macierewicz's Law and Justice party, which came to power following Poland's 25 October general election, has dismissed both the Polish and Russian reports published to date.

Macierewicz has championed a theory that an explosion occurred, causing the plane to crash.

"The truth will be determined through research and an investigation into what really happened,” Macierewicz said.

All aboard the presidential plane died. According to reports published thus far, the plane flew too low and hit trees.

Casualties included the then Polish president Lech Kaczyński, politicians from various parties, and prominent public figures based in Poland and abroad. (nh/pk)