Germany's foreign minister said Monday the EU will "raise the pressure" on Russia over the Ukraine crisis following the downing of Malaysian flight MH17 with a suspected missile.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier said "the terrible deaths of hundreds of innocent people in the plane crash a few days ago, the ghastly images of the crash site and the ruthless behaviour of the separatists have rightly caused outrage and shock around the world".

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday told Russia's Vladimir Putin the shooting down of the MH17 passenger plane was "totally unacceptable" and appeared to be the work of Russian separatists.

"The evidence suggested that pro-Russian separatists were responsible and the Prime Minister made clear that if Russia wants to put the blame elsewhere they would need to present compelling and credible evidence," a press release about the phonecall from Downing Street said.

Britain expressed hope on Sunday for a "proper" probe into an assault by armed men who left a Sudanese newspaper editor in hospital.

Gunmen raided the al-Tayar daily on Saturday evening and severely beat chief editor Osman Mirghani, who had called for normalization of ties with Israel.

Britain's new Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed Sunday he would vote to leave the EU unless London can repatriate powers from Brussels.

Hammond said without changes to Britain's relationship with the European Union, he expected the country would vote to leave the bloc in a referendum, which Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to hold in 2017 if his Conservatives are reelected next year.

Parts of central London were brought to a standstill on Saturday as thousands of pro-Palestinians marched in protest against Israel's offensive in Gaza, while in Paris a banned demonstration descended into violence.

Organizers of the London rally claimed that "tens of thousands" of people joined the march from Prime Minister David Cameron's office to the Israeli embassy, many of them chanting "Israel is a terror state".

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Friday that if it is confirmed a Malaysian airliner was shot down over Ukraine, those responsible "must be brought to account."

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed on Thursday, killing all 298 people on board including nine Britons.

The British government summoned the Spanish ambassador to the Foreign Office in London on Thursday over the actions of a Spanish naval vessel near Gibraltar.

A Spanish navy ship tried to divert two commercial vessels heading to the port of Gibraltar by wrongly claiming they were in Spanish waters, Europe Minister David Lidington said. 

William Hague's surprise resignation as Britain's foreign secretary is the latest twist in a political career that has seen soaring highs and deep lows.

Now 53, Hague began as a prodigy who first caught public notice when he gave a rousing speech to a Conservative Party conference aged 16.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani should be trusted over Tehran's nuclear program but he must be judged on his actions not words, British lawmakers said in a report Monday.

The report by the influential Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons came as world powers including Britain held talks with Iran in Vienna on the issue.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he will discuss an international push for a ceasefire in Gaza with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his German and French counterparts during talks in Vienna on Sunday.

Hague said in a statement on Saturday that the discussions on ending the hostilities between Israel and Gaza would take place on the sidelines of talks on Iran's nuclear program in the Austrian capital.