Russia vetoes UN resolution on MH17 tribunal

Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that sought to set up a special tribunal to try those responsible for shooting down flight MH17 over Ukraine.

Eleven of the 15 members of the Security Council voted in favour of the resolution, which had been drafted by Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine.

Angola, China and Venezuela abstained. The Council session began with a moment's silence in honor of the 298 people killed in the July 17, 2014 disaster.

The resolution was supported by Britain, France and the US, which accuse pro-Russian separatist rebels of shooting down the Boeing 777 with a Buk surface-to-air missile supplied by Russia.

Moscow denies involvement and blames the Ukrainian military. On Wednesday, its ambassador Vitaly Churkin launched into a lengthy defense of Russia's actions, dishing the blame onto others.

Churkin 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."

"What are the grounds to be assured of the impartiality of such an investigation?" Churkin asked in a speech to the Council, lashing out against "aggressive... propaganda in the media."

Western powers on the Council, as well as Australia and the Netherlands, whose citizens together with Malaysia accounted for most of the victims, castigated Russia for its veto.
They insisted the veto would do nothing to silence efforts to seek international justice for the perpetrators.

"It is tragic that Russia has used the privilege entrusted to it... to frustrate international peace and security," said US ambassador Samantha Power.

"The United States believes firmly that those who carried out this unspeakable crime cannot remain unnamed and unpunished," Power added. "There cannot and will not be impunity."

Thirty-nine Australians perished on board MH17. The country's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop attended the Council vote in person, delivering a stinging rebuke on Russia.

"In a world with an increasing number of violent terrorist groups and other non-state actors... it is inconceivable that the Security Council would now walk away from holding to account those who brought down a commercial airplane," she said. "The veto only compounds the atrocity," Bishop said.