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“The hostile actions of the Netherlands have somehow made this tripartite consultation and our participation meaningless,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The three countries have been arguing since 2018 to determine why the Boeing 777, a Malaysian airline that flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, was shot down by a Soviet-made Buk missile. All 298 people on board died in that incident.
The liner was shot down over territory controlled by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. He had 196 Dutch and 38 Australians.
Speaking to reporters at the European Union summit in Brussels, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he was “disappointed” and “surprised” by Russia’s decision. He added that the measure would be “particularly painful” for the families of the victims.
At the time, Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok told lawmakers that he had summoned the Russian ambassador to say “deeply regrettable” about Moscow’s decision.
Moscow complained that The Hague had filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights over “Russia’s role in the destruction of flight MH17 in just three rounds of negotiations.”
In this way, the Netherlands “demonstrates its strong opposition to the common sense of continuing on the wrong path by unilaterally holding Russia responsible for what happened in the skies of Donbass,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Dutch leaders have openly blamed Russia for being responsible for the deaths of the country’s citizens, but Moscow has always vehemently denied having anything to do with the liner shooting and blamed Ukraine.
“However, Australia and the Netherlands have apparently made no effort to find out what actually happened in the summer of 2014, only to get Russia to admit guilt and obtain compensation for the victims’ families,” the ministry added.
Russia “will continue to cooperate” with The Hague in this investigation, but in a “different format,” Moscow added.
In March, Dutch courts opened a case against four suspects, three Russians and one Ukrainian, accused of contributing to the shooting on the liner.
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