Moscow hopes the downing of a Malaysian passenger jet would be a chance to stop hostilities in eastern Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.

"I really hope that tragedy will make all parties to forget about political ambitions," Lavrov told Rossiya 24 television.

"So far, this may be a result of unprofessionalism of those in charge of the (artillery) systems or just accidents," Lavrov said.

He said Russia has been ready to assist Ukrainian authorities in investigation of the crash which claimed nearly 300 lives.

He warned that Russia will be forced to fire back if its territory is deliberately shelled from Ukrainian side. "We seriously warned that if such facts continue, we'll take necessary measures."

Last week, the Russian Investigative Committee said Ukrainian troops have intentionally fired artillery shells at the town of Donetsk in Russia's Rostov region, but Ukraine said it had nothing to do with the shelling, urging Moscow to be "objective and unbiased" when assessing the causes of the incident.