Here's the White House transcript of Obama's statements regarding Ukraine (and Gaza).
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called Russian suggestions (including from Lieutenant General Andrey Kartopolov at the Russian Defense Ministry) that "a military plane" was flying nearby the ill-fated Malaysian airliner an "irresponsible and false statement" from Moscow, AFP reports.
With an EU foreign ministers' meeting scheduled for tomorrow and at least one report that EU ambassadors were summoned for an emergency meeting tonight on Ukraine, here are comments in Berlin by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier:
"The fact that the mortal remains are being treated so inhumanely, the fact that the separatists are still not prepared to release the bodies four days after the crash, that fact that and international investigation of the crash site is still being thwarted -- all of this is not acceptable and clearly shows what kind of people we are dealing with."
"Unfortunately, we cannot perceive Russia interfering with the separatists in a vigorous way to stop these dishonourable acts at the crash site and to let the international investigations begin."
"We are at a point where we are far behind our and my expectations as to the realization of agreements [achieved so far]. That is why I do not expect a big argument and a falling out tomorrow [at an EU foreign ministers meeting] over the question how to heighten the pressure [on Russia]."
"I believe we'll rather have a lengthy discussion [at an EU foreign ministers meeting] about how we can came back into a durable political process beside heightened pressure and sanctions -- a process that promises to lead towards an armed truce. But we must not forget that sanctions do not replace the political process -- one just tries to accelerate it."
"We will prompt Russian President [Vladimir Putin] with all means available to us to distance himself from the conduct of separatists and we will heighten the pressure on the political agents with all means available to us as [EU] foreign ministers."
Russian and international agencies say Russia's Foreign Ministry has summoned Latvian Ambassador Astra Kurme to express "outrage" over Latvia's denial of entry to three Russian entertainers.
Earlier, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics previously said Oleg Gazmanov, Iosif Kobzon, and Alla Perfilova (known as Valeriya) were blacklisted over their pro-Kremlin stance on the Ukraine crisis.
Rinkevics called the singers "the most active propagandists" to "aggressively" support Russia's annexation of Crimea.
The singers were due to perform at the New Wave contest, an annual televised event in Latvia's Jurmala seaside resort that draws crowds and competitors from across the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Reuters quotes an eyewitness saying the train carrying victims of the MH17 crash has set off from the separatist-held town of Torez.
Here are some direct quotes from Obama's appearance today asserting that the "burden is on Russia" to allow international investigators to access the crash site, courtesy of our VOA colleagues:
"Given its direct influence over the separatists, Russia and President Putin in particular has direct responsibility to compel them to cooperate with the investigation. That is the least that they can do.
"Russia has extraordinary influence over these separatists. No one denies that. Russia has urged them on, Russia has trained them. We know that Russia has armed them with military equipment and weapons, including anti-aircraft weapons.
"We have to make sure the truth is out, and that accountability exists."
"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."
"Now is the time for Pres. Putin and Russia to pivot away from the strategy they've been taking and get serious about trying to resolve hostilities with Ukraine in a way that respects Ukraine's sovereignty and respects the right of the Ukrainian people to make decisions about their own lives."
"As investigators approached, they fired their weapons into the air. These separatists are removing evidence from the crash site, all of which begs the question, what exactly are they trying to hide?"
"Financial Times" carries a photo that appears to show signs of a missile hit on Flight MH17, saying "three experts confirm FT picture indicates signs of shrapnel damage."