A group of international experts has finished the first phase of a search for the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 and the victims' remains for security reasons, the Ukrainian Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Ministry reported on Thursday.

"A group of international experts reported the termination of the first phase of a search for the plane's wreckage and the bodies of the dead passengers of the Boeing 777 because of the situation related to terrorists' provocations and threats to the lives of the group members who worked at the crash scene," the ministry said on Thursday.

Experts will discuss prospects for starting the second phase of the search effort in the near future, it said.

Before this decision is made, most of the international experts will have left Ukraine, except for those in charge of communications and coordination, the ministry said.

"The experts from the team of investigators have agreed that the ceasefire at the site of the plane crash, introduced by the president of Ukraine in response to a request from international experts, which the Ukrainian armed forces have carefully observed, will not be in effect before the start of the second phase of the investigation," it said.