Obama calls Polish president on Malaysia airliner crash

U.S. President Barack Obama discussed on Monday with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski over phone the situation in Ukraine, the upcoming North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in Wales in September and the crashed Malaysia Airlines MH17, the White House said in a statement.

The two presidents exchanged views ahead of a meeting in Warsaw on Tuesday of the leaders of nine NATO members from Central and Eastern Europe, according to the statement.

Obama and Komorowski agreed on the importance of raising defense spending among European members of NATO, as well as on the importance of alliance-wide and credible contributions to NATO's reassurance efforts in Central and Eastern Europe, the statement said.

The two leaders also stressed the need for Transatlantic solidarity in responding to the tragic crash of MH17 and Russia's efforts in Ukraine crisis, it added.

Also in the day, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to offer his personal condolences to the Australians who lost their lives in crash of MH17.

Hagel reiterated Obama's pledge to support an international investigation into the incident, Press Secretary of U.S. Defense Department John Kirby said in a statement.

Hagel and Bishop also discussed Australia's proposal for a UN Security Council resolution authorizing an international investigation with immediate, secure, and unrestricted access to the site to determine the cause of the crash, Kirby said.

Both of them agreed that the U.S. and Australia should work closely together as the investigation moves forward, he added.

MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, killing all the 298 people aboard.