Prime Minister Tony Abbott has spoken overnight on Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin as Australian begins gathering support for a draft United Nations Security Council resolution to condemn the shooting down of MH17 and demand an independent investigation.
Mr Abbott said on Monday morning that Mr Putin had said ''all the right things'' during their conversation overnight.
But he told 2GB Radio that it was now up to the Russian President to be good to his word. On Sunday, Mr Abbott convened both a cabinet and a national security committee meeting.
He also met with Labor leader Bill Shorten, before Mr Shorten left for a trip to the United States.
While Mr Abbott did not go into detail of what he and Mr Putin discussed, during an interview with Channel Nine on Sunday, the Prime Minister said that he would be putting Australia's profound concern about what was happening to the 298 bodies at the crash site and ask for Russia's help to ensure they are treated with dignity.
''If he wants to be a friend of Australia, if he wants to be a friend of decency and humanity, all assistance that he might be able to offer would be deeply appreciated at this time,'' he said.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, meanwhile, said overnight on Sunday that the Australian government would not rest until the bodies of 37 citizens and residents ''murdered'' over the Ukraine are repatriated and the perpetrators of the missile strike that killed them brought to justice.
Ms Bishop arrived in Washington, DC, on Sunday morning and received detailed briefings from the CIA chief John Brennan and the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper at the residence of the Australian Ambassador, Kim Beazley.
She said those meetings confirmed that ''the possibilities as to what caused this crash have narrowed''.
''What we do know is that MH17 was brought down by a missile in eastern Ukraine in territory held by the Russian backed rebels,'' Ms Bishop said.
''The details should be the subject of an international investigation.''
She said separatists had restricted access to the site, moved bodies and tampered with evidence.
