Kremlin Slams MH17 Tribunal Initiatives As Distraction From Investigation

The initiatives to initiate an MH17 tribunal are nothing other than a distraction from continuing the actual investigation, the Kremlin spokesperson said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – New initiatives to create a tribunal on the downing of the Malaysian Airlines flight are attempts to create distraction from continuing investigations into the tragedy, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

“Well, these arguments for the UN General Assembly, in whatever format, is nothing other than a distraction from the necessity of continuing the actual investigation,” Peskov told journalists.

On July 29, the UN Security Council was unable to initiate a tribunal on the MH17, that was downed over eastern Ukraine in July of last year, after Russia used its veto power.

On Thursday, Ukraine’s first deputy speaker of the House, Andriy Parubiy, expressed his opinion that the issue of creating an international tribunal on the investigation into the crash may be reviewed by the UN General Assembly.

On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crashed in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board, mostly Dutch citizens, were killed.

Kiev authorities and Donbass independence supporters have blamed each other for the downing of the plane.

The preliminary report by the Dutch Safety Board suggested that the plane broke up in mid-air after being hit by numerous high-energy objects from the outside. A final report is expected to be released in October.