RUSSIA

Gunshots and artillery fire echoed through the streets of Donetsk on Monday, which is about 40 miles from the MH17 crash site.

Four days after MH17 was shot down in Ukraine, President Obama spoke harshly of Russia and President Vladimir Putin's role in the crisis.

Vladimir Putin has no soul, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden concluded after meeting with the Russian leader at the Kremlin in 2011, according to an article in the New Yorker published online on Monday.

U.S. stocks fell on Monday, following the sharpest moves in indexes in the past three months during the two previous sessions, as developments in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip continue to garner investor focus.

The sale comes as a new wave of sanctions raise concerns about Russian-American business financing.

Flight MH17 is said to have been downed by a surface-to-air missile Thursday, killing all 298 people aboard the Boeing aircraft.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Monday, reportedly denied claims of any tampering at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

The first international investigators reached rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine on Monday.

It was unclear whether Russia would block the resolution.

Before the MH17 crash, a flight over Crimea as Russians and Ukrainians fought a war turned into a recreation of the old days of the Soviet Union.

International teams of emergency workers are currently at the MH17 crash site.

The Security Council might also call on states in the region to cooperate with an international investigation.

"If President Putin does not change his approach on Ukraine, then Europe and the West must fundamentally change our approach to Russia."

The Ukrainian government says terrorists with Russia's support are trying to destroy evidence that blew apart MH17 and killed 298 people.

Pro-Russia separatists are controlling access to the Malaysia Airlines crash site.

"There are still some significant gaps on some core issues, which will require more time and effort," negotiators say.

The changes have been made by an Internet user within VGTRK, a Russian state-run TV and radio network.

Clashes reportedly continued unabated in the region despite pressure for a truce following Thursday's plane crash.

The lawyers told Reuters they expected at least some of the families of the 283 passengers on board the flight to sue Malaysia Airlines for damages above the amount they can already seek under an international agreement.

World markets may recover after geopolitical shocks, but the outlook is less rosy for Russia.

Now that we know a missile brought down MH17, we can ask how difficult it is to shoot a jetliner out of the sky at 33,000 feet.