Heavy fighting between Ukrainian government forces and separatists has been taking place near the site where Malaysian flight MH17 crashed into wheat and sunflower fields on July 17, according to The Associated Press.
Kiev accused the pro-Russian rebels on Wednesday of fortifying the area, including with land mines, to prevent the site from being properly investigated, but the landmine report could not be independently confirmed, the AP reported.
Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the rebels were digging in for battle near the crash site: "They have brought a large number of heavy artillery there and mined approaches to this area. This makes impossible the work of international experts trying to start work to establish the reasons behind the Boeing 777 crash," according to the AP.
The G7 leaders called on all sides to establish a ceasefire at the crash site, the AP reported. The new Western sanctions mark the first time Washington and Brussels have adopted measures designed to hurt the overall Russian economy.
German Economy Minister and Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said the measures would hurt the European economy but would hurt Russia more, according to the AP. The price was worth paying, he added: "At a time of war and peace, economic policy is not the main consideration."
Moscow denies Western accusations that it has armed and supported rebels who are fighting Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine, but Western countries say flows of heavy weapons across the frontier have only increased since the airliner was shot down, killing all 298 people on board, the AP reported.
Lysenko said 363 Ukrainian troops had been killed and 1,434 wounded since Kiev's "anti-terrorist" operation began, according to the AP.
