Rutte makes appeal to Ukrainian president

The Netherlands' Prime Minister Mark Rutte has, in a telephone conversation, asked Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to put an end to the hostilities around the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. This, so that the investigative team, including Dutch forensic experts, can have safe access to the site. According to the Government Information Service (RVD), Rutte expressed "his great concern over the fact that the international experts could again not seem to reach the crash site today, and that precious time for the rescuing and repatriation of the victims is being lost." The investigative team made a third attempt to reach the crash site today, but it does not seem to have worked. Earlier attempts were called off due to safety risk reasons. The Ukrainian government is currently fighting the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, clashes that have been ongoing for some time, and threaten to cross over into the region of the Malaysia Airlines crash site. Rutte called for an end to the hostilities in order to make the humanitarian work possible for the surviving relatives, according to the RVD. In reply, President Poroshenko "ensured" Prime Minister Rutte "that he would put all effort into making that access possible."