He further said that key separatist leaders of "so-called Novorossiya", including its prime minister and minister for defence, are Russian citizens and acting under the supervision of Russian intelligence.
Novorossiya (New Russia) is an area north of the Black Sea, an unrecognised confederation of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic.
Admitting that "nobody wants to corner Russia", Shevchenko urged global powers to ensure that international law and order is maintained.
"There are already some sanctions against Russia and their purpose is to force Russia to withdraw from Ukraine. We expect that sanction regimes will be tightened in case Russia refuses to oblige," he said.
Speaking about the investigations into the crash, Shevchenko said that although the rebels have handed over the aircraft's black boxes to Malaysian representatives, they are unwilling to cooperate with international investigators.
"They (rebels) possessed the black boxes for four days. So there is a great concern that information could be manipulated. The area of the crash is under the operative control of the separatists. They are creating obstacles to fair investigation," he alleged.
He dismissed the separatists' argument that they do not have the capability to shoot down a commercial airliner.
"They are contradicting their own statements. Only a few days before the tragedy they had openly claimed that they acquired the 'Buk' system, which is likely to have been used in striking down the aircraft. On July 14 they shot down a Ukraine military plane which demonstrated the 'Buk' system was available to them," he claimed.
Shevchenko also denied Ukraine's involvement in the crash, an allegation levelled by the rebels.
"There was no military or anti-terror activity in the area. No Ukraine air force was operating on the day of the tragedy. We can't let this tragedy be used for a blame game," Shevchenko said.
He appealed to the world community for a fair and independent probe.
"We have invited all those who are interested in finding out the true facts, in particular nations whose citizens were boarding the flight. We also want Interpol, FBI and other international bodies to join the investigation," he said, adding that the UN Security Council's intervention might be sought depending on the result of the investigations.
"Russia is a country which is supplanting terrorists in a neighbouring country. We hope this time the international community will be united against such outrageous action by one of the permanent members of the Security Council," Shevchenko contended.
