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MH17 plane crash: Crash is Russia's 'defining moment' says PM | MH17 plane crash: Crash is Russia's 'defining moment' says PM |
(35 minutes later) | |
David Cameron has said the Malaysian Airlines crash in east Ukraine is a "defining moment" for Russia. | David Cameron has said the Malaysian Airlines crash in east Ukraine is a "defining moment" for Russia. |
Some 298 people died, including 10 Britons, when flight MH17 crashed in a rebel-held area last week. | Some 298 people died, including 10 Britons, when flight MH17 crashed in a rebel-held area last week. |
Pro-Russia rebels have been accused of downing the jet, and the PM said Moscow had "fermented" the Ukraine conflict. | |
He said it was unlikely the plane was shot deliberately - but warned of "hard-hitting" sanctions if Moscow did not change course on Ukraine. | |
Mr Cameron said there was "anger" at what had happened and urged Moscow to halt training and supplies of weapons to the separatists. | |
The UK is set to push for increased sanctions against Russia at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Tuesday. | The UK is set to push for increased sanctions against Russia at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Tuesday. |
'Clear choice' | |
Meanwhile, relatives of some of the British victims have called for their bodies to be brought home. | |
Mr Cameron called for "unfettered access" to the crash site for international investigators and for bodies to be repatriated. | |
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 evidence pointed to the jet being downed by pro-Russian separatists, adding that "a conflict that could have been curtailed by Moscow, has instead been fermented 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. | 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." | |
Mr Cameron said the rest of the European Union could no longer "turn a blind eye" to what he called "a dangerous crisis". | |
Harriet Harman, Labour'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." |