‘Moment of truth for Mr. Putin’

Pressure is building on Russian President Vladimir Putin to acknowledge his government’s purported role in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, an event whose aftermath has revealed the scope of the Kremlin’s military buildup in eastern Ukraine.

Putin’s name echoed through the political talk shows Sunday as Secretary of State John Kerry and several members of Congress singled out Putin and called for him to use his influence with the rebels to ease the investigation of the crash.

{mosads}”This is a moment of truth for Mr. Putin and for Russia,” an insistent Kerry said during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Russia needs to step up and prove its bona fides, if there are any left, with respect to its willingness to put actions behind the words.”

Lawmakers made even stronger entreaties after Kerry divulged new details that link the plane’s destruction to the separatists and the separatists to the Kremlin.

“The nexus between Russia and the separatists has been established very clearly,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“So the issue is: Where is Putin? I would say, Putin, you have to man up. You should talk to the world. You should say this was a mistake, which I hope it was.”

Reps. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Peter King (R-N.Y.) expressed no doubt Putin was involved, calling the event a “game-changer” in U.S.-Russia relations.

British Prime Minister David Cameron voiced a similar view in a strongly-worded piece published in The Sunday Times.

“We must turn this moment of outrage into a moment of action. Action to find those who committed this crime and bring them to justice,” Cameron wrote.

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

The comments came as new reports highlighted the unscrupulous management of the Flight 17 crash site in rural Ukraine.

Pro-Russian rebels have expelled international observers, removed evidence from the scene and piled bodies into trucks, actions Kerry denounced as “grotesque.”

Reports and photos from the site have outraged Europeans, particularly the Dutch, whose citizens accounted for most of the victims.

Late Saturday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte held a news conference in which he described putting pressure on Putin about the crash site during a “very intense” phone call.

“I told him that the window of opportunity to show the world that he intends to help is closing rapidly,” Rutte said.

“He must take responsibility vis-à-vis the rebels and show the Netherlands and the world that he is doing what is expected of him by exercising his influence.”

It is unclear whether Putin intends to intervene in the management of the fields where Flight 17 went down.

Separatists located the black boxes for the plane early Sunday and intend to hand them over to international authorities in what may be a sign of a shift in their approach.

Kerry said the Obama administration is sending experts to evaluate what happened on the ground, and he called on Russia to help lower the barriers to a full investigation.

“This is a very, very critical moment for Russia to step up publicly and join in the effort to ensure there is a full-fledged investigation,” he said on CNN.

Still, Obama’s critics charged Sunday that the administration has not been aggressive enough with Putin from the moment he began interfering in Ukraine.

Calling Kerry’s foreign policy views “delusional,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said the United States should impose sanctions that hit Putin personally, as well as the country’s energy and banking sectors.

He also urged the White House to arm Ukraine, put more NATO troops on the ground and rebuild missile defense systems in the region.

“Leading from behind is not working. The world is adrift. And President Obama has become the king of indecision. His policies are failing across the globe, and they will come here soon,” Graham said on NBC.