Putin calls for urgent Ukraine crisis settlement after jet crash

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin called Friday for an urgent settlement of the Ukraine crisis as he expressed condolences to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte over the Malaysian jet crash. "The head of Russia stressed that the tragedy once again highlighted the need for an urgent peaceful settlement of the most acute crisis in Ukraine and noted there is a need for a thorough and objective investigation of the air crash," the Kremlin said in a statement after Putin spoke with Rutte by phone.

Of the 298 crash victims, 154 were from The Netherlands.