The Malaysian government is currently negotiating a ceasefire with the Ukrainian government and the separatists group, Donetsk People's Republic, to ensure a safe passage for the international investigators to reach the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) MH17 crash site in Torez, Ukraine.

The special investigation team from Malaysia's head of delegation, Khairil Hilmi Mokhtar said the ceasefire area which include the crash site was an area covering a 35km radius.

He said the negotiation was meant for the international investigation team, which comprised Malaysia, Australia and Netherlands, to retrieve the remnants of the aircraft victims and the aircraft wreckage, for investigation.

"The aircraft's chassis had been scattered around the area when it crashed and this is a challenge for the investigators to perform their task," he told Malaysian reporters today in Utrecht, Netherlands.

The MAS flight, MH17, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine near the Russian border on July 17.

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft which was carrying 298 people - 283 passengers and 15 crew - was believed to have been shot down, but until today no one has claimed responsibility for the heinous act.

No timeframe

However, Khairil Hilmi said there was no timeframe as to when the negotiation would be forged between both parties.

"It is still ongoing. Our priority is to ensure the remains can be recovered and the investigation over the crash done swiftly," he said.

The Malaysian investigation team has managed to recover bodies of victims, where a total of 227 coffins had been delivered from Kharkiv, Ukraine to Eindhoven, Netherlands.

The team also managed to recover two aircraft black boxes, containing data and voice recorder after, Prime Minister Najib Razak negotiated with the separatist leader, Alexander Borodai last week.

As the negotiation is in the offing, Malaysian prime minister is scheduled to hold a meeting with his Netherlands counterpart Mark Rutte on Wednesday, to discuss about the MH17 tragedy in Ukraine.

- Bernama