Australia and Malaysia have signalled their intention to send investigators back to the MH17 crash site in war-torn eastern Ukraine before winter.



Prime minister Tony Abbott and his counterpart Najib Razak on Saturday agreed to intensify their efforts to recover any human remains still at the crash site and return them to their loved ones.



Australian investigators were forced to suspend their search in August as fighting around the crash site intensified.



It was envisioned they would return but a timeline was never set.



But there could be fresh urgency to get forensic experts back on the ground, with Najib declaring they’d need “at least a few weeks” to scour the vast impact zone for any remaining evidence.

“We intend to send our teams to the crash site as soon as possible,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur following a meeting with Abbott.



“We are very, very keen to re-enter the crash site, especially before winter sets in.”



Both leaders agreed that obtaining further evidence from the site would be crucial for building a criminal case to punish those responsible for the attack.



Australia has pointed the finger at Russia, accusing it of arming the separatists in eastern Ukraine suspected of downing the passenger plane.



Nearly 300 people, including 38 Australian citizens and residents, were killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine in July.

The first bodies of the Australian victims from the tragedy arrived back home earlier this week.



Abbott said it was likely there were still human remains at the crash site and the families of those who died deserved justice and closure.



“We want to be absolutely confident that everything has been done to ensure that no one is left untended and alone,” he said.



He also provided an update on the next phase of the Australian-led search for missing plane MH370, due to begin in a fortnight.



It’s been six months since the plane disappeared without a trace and exhaustive search efforts in the Indian Ocean have so far turned up nothing.



Earlier in the day he thanked Malaysian officials in person for their “courage and resilience” dealing with the twin disasters.



The two leaders also discussed the rise of terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria, with Najib emphatically condemning Islamic extremism.



Abbott returns home on Sunday after a three-day trip to India and Malaysia.

