The U.N. Security Council on Friday called for a "full, thorough and independent international investigation" into the downing of a Malaysian airliner with 298 people on board over Ukraine, urging all parties to grant investigators access to the site.

In a statement agreed by consensus, the council also called for "appropriate accountability."

Britain drafted the short text and hoped the 15-member council could issue it on Thursday, but Russia requested more time to review it before it was agreed.

Two U.S. officials have said Washington strongly suspects the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 was downed by a missile fired by Ukrainian separatists.

U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is alarmed at seemingly "credible, numerous reports that suggest that a sophisticated surface-to-air missile was used" to bring down a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine, a top U.N. official said on Friday.

U.N. political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman told the U.N. Security Council that he would travel to Moscow and Kiev in the coming days. He also said the U.N. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) made an offer to Ukraine to put together an international team of investigators.