Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has again taken aim at Russia, blaming it for arming rebels in eastern Ukraine and making the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash site unsafe for investigators and monitors.
Bishop, in addressing the United Nations Security Council on Friday in New York, said the recently released preliminary report by the Dutch Safety Board was consistent with Australia's initial assessment the passenger jet was shot down on July 17 by a surface-to-air missile.
Bishop said she was "deeply concerned" monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were endangered by shelling and threats of violence by armed groups in the area.
"Let me be clear, the security situation around the site and in much of eastern Ukraine has deteriorated because of Russian support to arm separatist groups," Bishop told the Security Council.
"That support continues and it must cease."
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Bishop said 225 of the 298 passengers and crew who died on MH17 have been identified.
On July 21 in the Security Council chamber Bishop demanded "Russia must use its influence over the separatists".
Russian Ambassador at the UN Vitaly Churkin on Friday told the Security Council Russia was a victim of an "information war".
"This tragedy has been used by a number of countries to exacerbate international tensions immediately following the incident and, without any verified proof, public statements were made where all of the blame was laid on the rebels and our country was held responsible for the perpetration of serious international violations," Churkin said.
"Let us not forget these actions were indeed the cause for engulfing Russia in a sanctions spiral.
"We think this was an act of information war and blatant intervention in the investigation of the incident as well as a political attempt to predetermine the results of the investigations."
