CRI听力:MH17 Data Passed to Holland

Data from the black boxes of the crashed Malaysia Airlines flight MH 17 has been passed to investigators in the Netherlands, as the US and EU step up sanctions against Russia.

The move comes after the international monitoring team investigating the downing of the flight again failed to enter the crash site due to heavy fighting between Ukraine troops and rebels.

CRI's Min Rui has more.

Reporter:
British authorities say the preliminary findings of the data collected from the black boxes will be published next week.

The black box recorders from MH 17 were delivered last week by Dutch authorities to the UK for data downloading and analysis.

British authorities say the immediate priority is still to secure access to the crash site.

The chief monitor of the Mission to Ukraine from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe says the OSCE aims to reach the MH17 crash site in the next 48 hours.

Ertugrul Apakan leads that OSCE Special Monitoring Mission.

"We are coordinating with all parties on the ground. And be sure that Netherlands, Australia, OSCE, the Ukrainian side, Ukrainian authorities and all parties concerned have to have a common perception and coordination among themselves in order to enable the international task force to be there."

A delegation of international experts and OSCE monitors was forced to abandon a trip to the debris field due to heavy fighting in the area.

Intense fighting between Ukrainian troops and rebels on Tuesday has resulted in dozens of civilian and rebel deaths, as Kiev presses on with an offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Shells have hit the center of Donetsk and a retirement home in the city of Luhansk.

Both Russia and the U.S. have called for a ceasefire in the country.

The U.S and the European Union have already announced new sanctions against Russia over the conflict.

US President Barack Obama said the new measures will make Russia's "weak economy even weaker".

"The United States is imposing new sanctions in key sectors of the Russian economy - energy, arms and finance. We are blocking the exports of specific and technologies to the Russian energy sector, we're expanding our sanctions to more Russian banks and defense companies and we are formally suspending credit that encourages exports to Russia and financing for economic development projects in Russia."

The EU has also adopted new economic sanctions against Russia, targeting the oil sector, defense equipment, and sensitive technologies.

Both the EU and the US argued that Moscow is supplying tactical support for the rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow has been denying the allegations.

Russia has said it will not impose tit-for-tat measures over the economic sanctions.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for an independent international investigation into the air crash.

Lavrov also called on Washington to exert its influence on the authorities in Kiev to facilitate a ceasefire and peace talks.

Currently, members from the OSCE have already met with local authorities in Russia and are set to start working along the Russian-Ukrainian border later today.

The OSCE observers will be monitoring the checkpoints in Gukovo and Donetsk on the Russia-Ukraine border.

The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have already fled Ukraine's tumultuous east.

For CRI, I'm Min Rui .