Angry Australian PM: Ukraine Crash Site Probe 'Shambolic'

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott Monday hit out at the "shambolic" situation at the MH17 crash site as he demanded Russian President Vladimir Putin back up assurances with action. At least 27 Australian passengers were among the 298 people aboard Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, shot down over eastern Ukraine in an attack the West has blamed on separatist rebels armed by Russia. “This is still an absolutely shambolic situation, it is an absolutely shambolic situation. It does look more like a garden clean-up than a forensic investigation,” Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters in Canberra. “There's no doubt that at the moment the site is under the control of the Russian backed rebels and given the almost certain culpability of the Russian-backed rebels in the downing of the aircraft having those people in control of the site is a little like leaving criminals in control of a crime scene,” he said. Abbott, speaking on a breakfast radio show, said he had spoken “overnight” to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time about the disaster, amid mounting horror over the treatment of victims' remains. “To President Putin's credit he did say all the right things. I want to stress that what he said was fine," Abbott said. "The challenge now is to hold the president to his word, that's certainly my intention and it should be the intention of the family of nations to hold the president to his word." Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, British counterpart David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande also piled pressure on Putin over the weekend in phone calls. Critical of Russia Abbott, who has been critical of Russia's role in the disaster, said he had spoken to many Western leaders in the past two days and had noted “a much firmer and sterner mood” now. He has branded the plane's downing "a crime", and accused Moscow of trying to wash its hands of the tragedy while failing to properly secure the crash site. Moscow denies any involvement in the disaster. Australia is leading a push for a binding U.N. resolution that demands those responsible be held accountable and that armed groups do not compromise the crash site integrity. Diplomats said the U.N. Security Council could vote as early as Monday on an Australia-proposed resolution demanding international access to the Ukraine plane crash site and a cease-fire around the area. But Australia and Russia late Sunday were still working out key differences, and Britain accused Moscow of using "delaying tactics." The resolution calls for pro-Russia separatists to allow access to the site of the downed Malaysia Airlines passenger jet. It asks for the full cooperation of all countries in the region, including Russia. Australia's foreign minister, Julie Bishop, said she expects all 15 council members to support her country's proposal. But Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said Moscow is concerned the draft "does not accurately reflect the need for an impartial, international investigation." Churkin said Russia is proposing that the International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. agency, take the lead in the investigation. The current proposal welcomes "the decision by ICAO to send a team to assist" Ukrainian investigators. British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant accused Russia of proposing amendment after amendment to delay passage of the resolution. "It looks like a typical Russian delay in tactics, and one can guess why they want delay," Lyall Grant said. The resolution also demands that armed groups who control the crash site do not disturb debris, belongings or victims' remains and cease military activities in the area. G20 meeting Abbott is due to host Putin and other world leaders at the G20 Leaders Summit in November and is facing mounting calls to ban the Russian leader from participating. “I think we are getting ahead of ourselves. The G20 meeting doesn't take place until mid-November. It's four months away. There's a lot of water that will almost certainly flow under the bridge between now and November and I just think it's unhelpful to start speculating about what might happen in four months now,” he said. A 45-strong Australian investigation team was either in or heading to Kyiv, but had so far been unable to travel to the site despite some improvement in access. Some information for this report provided by Reuters, AP and AFP.



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