Paris: The French and Ukrainian presidents said Saturday that any obstruction preventing international investigators reaching the crash site of flight MH17 will "not be tolerated".
Following a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko, President Francois Hollande said the two had agreed "on the importance of establishing the facts" of what happened to the Malaysian Airlines plane, which crashed in the rebel-held east of Ukraine on Thursday, killing all 298 on board.
"To this end, no obstruction to the work of the international observers from the ICAO (the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization) will be tolerated," they said in a statement released by the Elysee palace.
Pro-Russian separatists hindered access to the crash site on Saturday, with international monitors trying to access the scene met by Kalashnikov-wielding militias who allowed them access to only the outskirts of the field.
Rebels backed up by muscular diplomatic support from the Kremlin have shown few signs of being ready to cooperate with an investigation.
Earlier on Saturday, the Dutch PM called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to take action so that bodies from the plane could be removed.
20/07/14 PTI/Zee News
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Following a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko, President Francois Hollande said the two had agreed "on the importance of establishing the facts" of what happened to the Malaysian Airlines plane, which crashed in the rebel-held east of Ukraine on Thursday, killing all 298 on board.
"To this end, no obstruction to the work of the international observers from the ICAO (the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization) will be tolerated," they said in a statement released by the Elysee palace.
Pro-Russian separatists hindered access to the crash site on Saturday, with international monitors trying to access the scene met by Kalashnikov-wielding militias who allowed them access to only the outskirts of the field.
Rebels backed up by muscular diplomatic support from the Kremlin have shown few signs of being ready to cooperate with an investigation.
Earlier on Saturday, the Dutch PM called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to take action so that bodies from the plane could be removed.
20/07/14 PTI/Zee News
