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Australia is unlikely to immediately follow the US and EU's lead in imposing further sanctions on Russia because it still needs Moscow's help in aiding the unarmed police mission's safe passage to the MH17 crash site.
The United States and the European Union have both strengthened their sanctions against Russia as punishment for President Vladimir Putin's stance on Ukraine.
But Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Australia already had some sanctions against Russia and flagged the possibility of the government expanding those "further", but not before the multinational team had completed its mission.
"At the moment our focus is not on sanctions – our focus is on bringing home our dead," he told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.
Fighting has again thwarted attempts by the Dutch-led mission to reach the crash site, which has turned into a battleground between Ukranian forces and Russian-backed rebels, but Mr Abbott said on Wednesday that the investigators would not be deterred.
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again – that's the approach that the Australian government and our international partners, particularly the Dutch have got to this," he said.
"If it doesn't happen today we'll try again tomorrow, if it doesn't happen tomorrow we'll try again the next day."
Mr Abbott said the situation on the ground remained "fluid" but the government would not be taking sides between Russia and Ukraine "at least at this time".
"I know that various things are happening in Europe and elsewhere, that's a matter for the Europeans and others," he said.
"We want to get in, we want to get cracking, we want to get out."
Treasurer Joe Hockey also rejected suggestions that he had ruled out any further sanctions against Russia in an earlier radio interview.
"I made no such claim, that's just dead wrong," he said.
Mr Hockey played down the likelihood of Australia mimicking the US and EU's sanctions, when he told ABC radio that Australia would be "unlikely" to get "continued co-operation" should Canberra be seen as "actively coming to judgment on responsibility for the plane crash".
Standing alongside the Prime Minister in Sydney on Wednesday, Mr Hockey said Moscow's support for the unarmed mission was vital for the team's support.
"We have unarmed federal police going in, it is high risk and our primary risk is to get our dead Australians out of there and then deal with the other issues after that," the Treasurer said.
