Russian veto expected as Security Council votes on tribunal for downing of

Russian Federation vetoed a United Nations resolution Wednesday to create an global tribunal and prosecute those who shot down the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014.

“We very much regret that the UN Security Council last night did not adopt due to the veto of Russian Federation the resolution on the downing of MH17″, European Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told reporters.

It is “utterly absurd” to claim that Russia’s veto on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) draft resolution about setting up an worldwide tribunal for the MH17 crash means Moscow effectively admitted its guilt, Peskov told reporters.

“Russia continues to view the establishment of such a tribunal as not being the best course of action”, the Kremlin quoted Putin as saying in a statement.

The resolution had been drafted by Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine.

After the vote, U.S. representative to the United Nations Sarah Power criticized the Russian veto saying that Russia had “abused the privilege given to it by the U.N.” and that its “efforts to deny justice only intensify the pain felt by victims of flight MH17”. He said Russian investigators had been denied equal access to the crash site and criticized what he said would have been criminal prosecution carried out “in a closed fashion”.

In the voting, eleven of fifteen the Council members voted in favor, one against and three others abstained. Putin in November promised Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to ensure a full investigation. Speaking at a joint media conference after the session adjourned, Dutch Foreign Minister Albert Koenders said the veto would not weaken their resolve to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Ministers at the council later stressed that other legal options are available, with some indicating they might pursue a tribunal again.

A preliminary report released in the Netherlands last year said the plane had no technical problems in the seconds before it broke up in the sky after being struck by multiple objects – a conclusion that experts said pointed to a missile strike.

Moscow has said that it wants to wait for the completion of an ongoing Dutch-led worldwide investigation into the air disaster.

A separate inquiry by the Dutch national prosecutor’s office aims to decide who is responsible.

“But the sort of brick wall that you seem to hit on these occasions is being able to reach the people who are the alleged offenders and [to] have the co-operation of the jurisdiction of which they are present”.