WIREDGOV

The Prime Minister spoke to Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande yesterday (20 July) about the Malaysia Airlines MH17 disaster. 

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

The Prime Minister has spoken to Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande this morning.

Both calls focused on 2 important issues: access to the crash site; and the EU’s approach to Russia given all the evidence suggests the missile was launched by pro-Russian separatists.

All 3 leaders agreed that the immediate priority is to secure access to the crash site and to ensure that specialist teams are able to recover the victims and return them home. They agreed President Putin has an important role to play by persuading the separatists to grant access and to work with the international community to ensure that all that needs to be done can be done as soon as possible.

They also agreed that the EU must reconsider its approach to Russia and that foreign ministers should be ready to impose further sanctions on Russia when they meet on Tuesday.

The Foreign Secretary will chair a further cross-Whitehall meeting on the MH17 disaster at 1pm today. The Prime Minister is due to speak to President Putin early this evening.