Russia has vetoed a United Nations draft resolution calling for an international criminal tribunal into the MH17 air disaster in Ukraine.
The resolution was backed by 11 of the 15 members of the UN Security Council, but three – Angola, China and Venezuela – abstained.
A tribunal would mean that those responsible for the crash would be prosecuted.
In order to be passed, a resolution needs nine votes in favour and no veto by Russia, the US, China, Britain or France.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop called the Russian veto ‘an affront to the memory of the 298 victims of MH17 and their families and friends’.
The Malaysian Airlines plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down last July.
The west has blamed pro-Russian rebels, saying there is evidence it was hit by a missile supplied by Russia.
But Russia has blamed the government in Kiev for the disaster, which killed all 298 on board.
The Dutch Safety Board is due to release a final report on the cause of the crash in October.
