We’ll deliver justice to MH17 families, Australian and Dutch leaders vow

Australia and The Netherlands have vowed to bring justice to the families of victims of downed flight MH17, despite the search for body parts being halted because of fighting in eastern Ukraine.

"We owe it to the dead, we owe it to the grieving families to bring them [the victims] home and to give them justice," Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Monday.

"We are not just partners in grief, but partners in demanding justice in the face of this terrible atrocity," Abbott told Dutch premier Mark Rutte at a press conference in The Hague.

The Australian leader was in The Netherlands for a one-day visit to thank the Dutch government for leading the investigation and to offer condolences to the victims' families.

The Netherlands lost 193 nationals and Australia 38 citizens and residents when the Malaysia Airlines plane from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing all 298 on board.

Dutch, Australian and Malaysian forensic experts went to the crash site to retrieve body parts, but their search was suspended last Wednesday. Investigators flew back to The Netherlands after it became too dangerous to stay in the area - the scene of increasing clashes between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists.