The Netherlands will take the lead in identifying victims of flight MH17, brought down over Ukraine with the loss of 298 lives, prime minister Mark Rutte told a news conference on Sunday.

A Dutch defence ministry plane is heading for Charkov in Ukraine on Sunday evening carrying people and equipment to establish a coordination centre, Rutte said.

‘I have spoken today with [German chancellor Angela] Merkel and [British prime minister David] Cameron and this evening I will have contact again with [Russian president Vladimir] Putin,’ Rutte said. ‘Everything is focused on getting the bodies back.’

Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans is flying to New York on Sunday evening for a meeting of the United Nations security council. There he will call for speedy recovery of the bodies and ‘getting to the very bottom of this terrible event’, Rutte said.

Military intervention

Rutte did not answer directly a question from journalists asking if military intervention was an option to ensure the bodies of the dead can be recovered.

‘The cabinet has one aim and that is to get our people home,’ he said. Asked if he saw a role for Nato, Rutte said ‘no’.

On Monday there will be a closed meeting for relatives of the 193 Dutch nationals who died. King Willem-Alexander, queen Máxima, the prime minister and other ministers will be at the meeting, broadcaster Nos said.

There will also be a briefing for MPs later on Monday.