REUTERS
Russia's Foreign Ministry has made a statement to comment on its veto on the establishment of an international criminal tribunal to prosecute those responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in July 2014, which killed all 298 people on board, the ministry's press service said on Thursday.
According to the statement, by vetoing a respective resolution, Russia was trying to "prevent a split in the UN Security Council, and shifted the issue into a constructive course," considering "the establishment of the tribunal to be a politicized decision."
The Russian side claims that the previously adopted resolution 2166 "is the only acceptable basis of international cooperation in the interests of an independent and transparent investigation into the crash of the plane."
After the vote, Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said that the Netherlands, Malaysia, Australia, Belgium and Ukraine would continue to look for mechanisms to prosecute those responsible for the crime.