[LINK] "Malaysia Airlines MH17: Russia rebukes push for UN tribunal"

[rfmcdonald]

CBC shares the Associated Press' unsurprising report. What will happen, I wonder, when further confirmation of Russia's indirect role comes out?

Malaysia has asked the United Nations Security Council to set up an international tribunal to prosecute those suspected of downing a passenger airliner last year in eastern Ukraine, but Russia dismissed the move on Thursday.

Malaysia, a member of the 15-member council, distributed a draft resolution late on Wednesday, which it hoped could be adopted later this month, diplomats said. It is a joint proposal by Malaysia, Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium and Ukraine.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down in July 2014 with 298 passengers on board, two-thirds of them Dutch. It crashed in Ukrainian territory held by Russian-backed separatists.

"I don't see any future for" this resolution, Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said in a statement translated from Russian. "Unfortunately, it seems that this is an attempt to organize a grandiose, political show, which only damages efforts to find the guilty parties."

Russia is a veto-wielding permanent member on the 15-member council — along with France, Britain, China and the United States — and therefore it has the option of blocking the proposal if it is put to a vote.