As a team of investigators struggle to gather evidence from the Malaysia Airlines crash site in eastern Ukraine, world leaders looking to lay blame in the attack that killed 298 people are voicing concerns over Russia's degree of involvement.
Three days after the jetliner went down in a pro-Russia separatist region, killing everyone onboard, political leaders continued to be vocal over their concerns about Russia’s responsibility in the attack, whether indirect or not.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made the rounds on the political talk shows Sunday, where he pointed fingers at Russia in the strongest signal yet that the U.S. believes the Kremlin is responsible for the missile that downed the jet.
"Russia has armed the separatists," Kerry told ABC's “This Week.” “Russia continues to refuse to call publicly for the separatists to engage in behaviour that would lend itself to a resolution of this issue."
U.S. President Barack Obama has suggested that Russia is likely at least partially responsible for shooting down the Boeing 777, and that the rebels couldn’t have operated the type of rocket launched believed to have been used in the attack “without sophisticated equipment and sophisticated training" that is coming from Russia.
Kerry said Sunday “it is pretty clear that this was a system from Russia, transferred to separatists. We know with confidence that the Ukrainians did not have such a system anywhere near the vicinity at that point of time.”
The Canadian government is taking the same position, and said it is preparing additional sanctions against Russia.
"Clearly this odious crime happened because of the instability in Eastern Ukraine, created by Russia, authorized by President Putin," Employment Minister Jason Kenney told CTV News. "Without the involvement of Russia in that area, its support for these militants…this wouldn't have happened."
Meanwhile, world leaders are suggesting Vladimir Putin be banned from an upcoming G20 meeting set to take place this fall in Australia.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday he wants the European Union and the west to change its approach to Russia if Putin doesn't start changing his approach to Ukraine.
"This is a direct result of Russia destabilising a sovereign state, violating its territorial integrity, backing thuggish militias, and training and arming them. We must turn this moment of outrage into a moment of action."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the Observer: "The disaster in Ukraine has made it clear beyond all doubt that we are not dealing with a bilateral conflict, but a serious threat to the peace all across Europe."
At the crash scene, investigators are struggling to collect information and evidence as the rebels limit access to the site. As a small team of international observers took pictures and searched the field, a group of masked armed men prevented them from wandering too far.
"We've just come back from there and it's really a horrific scene. There are a lot of bodies lying around in the field," said Canadian Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The OSCE -- a security and human rights watchdog -- has sent a team of about 25 observers to the crash site to monitor activity. But Bociurkiw told CNN that the team was only on the site for 75 minutes, examining only about 200 metres, before being forced out.
Emergency workers were allowed to pu tvictims’ bodies on refrigerated trains, butcontrol of thetrains was then taken over by the rebels.
Self-appointed rebel leader Alexander Borodai said the bodies would remain in the rebel-held town of Torez until an international aviation delegation arrived.
Borodai expressed disappointment with how long it is taking a team of Malaysian experts to arrive on scene. The rebels said they had to begin removing the bodies because they began to decompose.
Rebel leaders said Sunday they are in control of the black boxes and will turn them over to the International Civil Aviation Organization, the UN body that oversees global aerospace issues. The black boxes were initially rumoured to have been sent to Moscow.
Ukraine also accused rebels of hiding evidence Sunday and released what it said were intercepted recordings purporting to show the rebels talking about frantically searching the crash site for the black boxes-- and the need to keep them out of the hands of Western investigators.
"Moscow asks where the boxes are," said a commander, according to the recording. "We need to find out quickly."
With files from CTV News’ Joy Malbon and The Associated Press.
