Nations Investigating MH17 Crash Mull Creating Tribunal Without UN Approval

The countries involved in the investigation of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash in Ukraine will discuss the creation of an international tribunal on the tragedy, which will not require UN approval, the Australian top diplomat said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Ministers from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine will meet to discuss the issue on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on September 29, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told The New York Times on Wednesday.

“This is the ‘what’s next,’” Bishop said on Wednesday. “There are a number of permutations, and I can assure you there are a number of international criminal lawyers who are working on this."

In 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in the conflict-torn eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people on board, mostly Dutch, Malaysian and Australian nationals.

In July, Russia vetoed the UN Security Council draft resolution to establish an international tribunal to prosecute those behind the crash. Moscow insisted on waiting first for the publication of the final report, due in October, by the Dutch Safety Board, the body leading the investigation.