(Reuters) – Russia said on Friday that it had summoned the Dutch ambassador over what it called “obsessive attempts” by the Dutch authorities to hold it responsible for the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine in 2014.
In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the joint investigation team set up to establish who was responsible of being “politicised”.
Prosecutors said last week at The Hague they had found “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin had approved the use in Ukraine of a Russian BUK missile system used to shoot down the plane over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
The summoning of its ambassador would not change the determination of the Netherlands to bring those who were responsible for downing the plane to justice, Dutch vice Prime Minister Sigrid Kaag said.
“We are looking for international justice, and we aim for the finding of the truth for victims and their relatives,” Kaag told reporters in The Hague.
“This is all part of the game of diplomacy, but we know what we stand for. The ambassador will listen to their message and relay it to us, and that will be that.”
MH17 was shot down by a Russian BUK missile system as it flew over eastern Ukraine from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew, including 196 Dutch citizens.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Jon Boyle and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
