Russian President Vladimir Putin and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott have reiterated the need to investigate the July 17 crash of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine as thoroughly and as promptly as possible, the Russian leader's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
“The Malaysian Boeing crash in Ukraine dominated the agenda for this meeting. Putin and Abbott resolutely spoke in favor of speeding up the investigation into this catastrophe. The president of Russia also reaffirmed the unacceptability of a situation where experts’ access to the crash site has been hampered and is becoming impossible because of shelling by Ukrainian army units,” he said.
Abbott, for his part, agreed that this inquiry should be stepped up and should be conducted in a “very careful manner”, Peskov said.
“Putin totally agreed with him in this case and noted that Russia had demanded an impartial, prompt and effective investigation from the very beginning,” the press secretary said.
Putin’s meeting with Abbott was quite brief, he added.
Abbott’s earlier promise to “shirtfront” Putin at the G20 summit over the Malaysian Boeing crash, in which 27 Australian citizens were killed, was not discussed, Peskov said.
When asked whether or not the Australian prime minister had attempted to use “body checks” during his conversation with Putin, Peskov said: “I do not think so. Apparently not.”
The word “shirtfront”, which refers to an aggressive, front-on physical challenge, hails from the lexicon of Australian Rules football.
Abbott then stepped back from his “shirtfront” threat.
The Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 en route from Amsterdam (the Netherlands) to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17. The crash killed all 298 people on board including 196 Dutch citizens, 44 Malaysians, among them 15 crew members, 27 citizens of Australia, as well as citizens of Indonesia, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand.
A tentative report by the Dutch Safety Board said the plane was in good order but it disintegrated in midair after its fuselage had been hit by a large quantity of objects.
