UK prime minister brands MH17 plane crash as 'defining moment' for Russia

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said that the Malaysia Airlines crash in east Ukraine is a "defining moment" for Russia. 298 people died, including 10 Britons, when flight MH17 crashed in a pro-Russian rebel-held area last week.

Cameron said that Moscow was "fuelling the Ukraine conflict" by arming the rebels, who are accused of downing the jet.

He said it was unlikely the plane was shot deliberately - but warned of "hard-hitting" sanctions if Moscow did not change course on Ukraine.

Cameron said there was "anger" at what had happened and urged Moscow to stop training separatists and supplying them with weapons.

'Clear choice'

Meanwhile, rebels in eastern Ukraine have handed over two flight-data recorders from the downed plane to Malaysian experts.

And a train carrying bodies from the crash site left a station at nearby Torez for the city of Kharkiv.

Cameron called for "unfettered access" to the crash site for international investigators and for bodies to be repatriated.

The 10 British victims (Clockwise from top left): John Alder, John Allen, Stephen Anderson, Robert Ayley, Cameron Dalziel, Glenn Thomas, Liam Sweeney, Ben Pocock, Richard Mayne and Andrew Hoare

Addressing MPs in the Commons, the prime minister said: "The context for this tragedy is Russia's attempt to destabilise a sovereign state, violate its territorial integrity and arm and train thuggish militias."

He said the "weight of evidence" pointed to the jet being shot by a missile fired by pro-Russian separatists and that "a conflict that could have been curtailed by Moscow, has instead been fomented by Moscow".

He said: "President Putin faces a clear choice in how he decides to respond to this appalling tragedy. I hope he will use this moment to find a path out of this festering and dangerous crisis by ending Russia's support for the separatists.

"If he does not change his approach to Ukraine in this then Europe and the West must fundamentally change our approach to Russia."

Cameron said the rest of the European Union could no longer "turn a blind eye" to the crisis.

If Moscow does not "change course", he said: "Russia cannot expect to continue enjoying access to European markets, European capital, European knowledge and technical expertise while she fuels conflict in one of Europe's neighbours."

The UN has called for a full international investigation into the crash

Deputizing for Labour leader Ed Miliband, who has been meeting President Barack Obama in the United States, Harriet Harman, the party's deputy leader, said: "The evidence is growing that this was not simply a tragedy but a terrible crime."

Calling it a "moment of reckoning for Europe", she added: "Europe must show its sorrow but it must also show its strength."

And later Miliband said: "I'm afraid what's been done so far has been proved to be inadequate. And I think that we need to show and follow the lead that has been taken by President Obama, and Europe needs to step up."

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said that the EU had so far failed to "act with the right collective resolve", but that there was "a change of mood" on sanctions.

Share this article: