Ukraine allows Malaysian personnel deployment at MH17 crash site

The Ukraine parliament has ratified a bilateral agreement which allows up to 90 Malaysian non-military personnel to be deployed at the MH17 crash site, a statement said Wednesday.

Under the agreement, ratified Tuesday, the Malaysian personnel would join a Dutch-led team to facilitate the recovery of remains and conduct the investigation called for in the UN Security Council Resolution 2166, Xinhua quoted the Malaysian Prime Minister's Office as saying.

The Ukrainian side ratified the bilateral agreement following discussions between Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Najib said Wednesday that he welcome the agreement, which formally authorised the deployment of Malaysian personnel at the site. "Now is the time to make it count," he said.

"I implore all parties to cease fighting and allow the international team of investigators safe and unfettered access to the crash site."

Prior to ratification of the agreement, Malaysian police and investigators had conducted operations at the crash site. "Due to unsafe conditions, the personnel were unable to stay at the site," the statement said.