Obama demands Putin act
President sternly called on Russian leader to compel Kremlin-backed separatists to stop hampering the jet probe.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama sternly called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to compel Kremlin-backed separatists to stop hampering the probe at the Ukraine site of a downed passenger jet and allow international investigators unfettered access.
“What exactly are they trying to hide?” Obama said Monday from the South Lawn of the White House.
Obama also warned Putin that he could face additional economic costs if he fails to take steps to resolve the crisis in Ukraine, but officials said new American sanctions were not imminent. Instead, much of the White House’s focus was on gaining access to the crash site and shoring up European Union sanctions, which have lagged behind U.S. penalties.
Meanwhile, bowing to international pressure, pro-Moscow separatists released a train packed with bodies and handed over the black boxes from the downed Malaysia Airlines plane, four days after it plunged into rebel-held eastern Ukraine.
With body parts decaying in sweltering heat and signs that evidence at the crash site was mishandled, anger in Western capitals has mounted at the rebels and their allies in Moscow. Their reluctant cooperation will soothe mourning families and help investigators, but may do little to reconcile the East-West powers struggling over Ukraine’s future.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday it saw no evidence a missile was fired and denied involvement in the downing of Flight 17 — and suggested the Ukrainian military was at fault. President Vladimir Putin spoke out but showed no sign of abandoning the separatists as fighting flared anew near the site of the crash.
President Barack Obama accused the rebels of tampering with evidence and insulting victimsí families, warning of new sanctions. Europeans will consider their own sanctions Tuesday.
The bodies of the 298 victims, most from the Netherlands, have become a part of the conflict in Ukraine because they could hold evidence of what brought the plane down on July 17 as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
EU foreign ministers planned to discuss the prospect of deeper sanctions during a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. A European official said the discussions were expected to focus on targeting Russian individuals and businesses, as well as possible arms embargoes.
The official said the downing of the passenger jet last week has shifted the calculus among some European nations that had been reluctant to impose tougher sanctions, including Germany and the Netherlands, which lost more than 190 people in the crash. However, the official said there remained splits in the European coalition, with other countries concerned that deepening sanctions on Russia now could harm efforts to gain access to the crash site.
Just one day before Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot out of the sky by a missile, Obama announced broad unilateral U.S. sanctions on some of Russia’s biggest banks and weapons firms.
Beyond sanctions, West- ern allies were weighing whether to revoke Putin’s invitation to attend a Group of 20 economic meeting in November. U.S. officials said that decision ultimately rested with the host country of Australia, which lost at least 37 people on downed flight.
The U.S. and allies took a similar step earlier this year when they boycotted the Group of Eight meeting Putin was scheduled to host in Russia and instead met without him in Brussels.
International investigators still had only limited access to the sprawling fields where the plane fell. The Obama administration appeared unmoved by an announcement from Malaysia on Monday that the separatists were prepared to give independent international investigators “safe access” to the crash site.
“The burden now is on Russia to insist that the separatists stop tampering with the evidence, grant investigators who are already on the ground immediate, full and unimpeded access to the crash site,” Obama said.