Abbott to meet Dutch PM over MH17 victims

Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott will travel to the Netherlands to meet his Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte, as the victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 continue to be identified.

The Dutch government has issued a brief statement announcing Abbott will visit The Hague on Monday to meet Rutte and sign a condolence book.

"Over the past few weeks, the Netherlands and Australia have been working together closely to repatriate and identify all the victims as soon as possible," the Australian Associated Press (AAP) quoted the Dutch statement as saying.

On Friday, AAP reported that forensic experts working in Hilversum in the Netherlands had identified a further 21 victims of flight MH17.

Only two bodies had previously been identified, both Dutch nationals.

The 21 additional victims comprise 16 Dutch, including a dual British national, two Malaysians, a German, a Canadian and a Briton.

The search for body parts at the crash site in eastern Ukraine has been suspended due to escalating clashes between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatists.