From RFERL's news desk: Russia Makes Veiled Threat To Veto MH17 Tribunal Plan At UN
Russia said it will oppose a draft United Nations resolution establishing an international tribunal to prosecute those who shot down Malaysian Flight MH17 over Ukraine.
"I don't see any future for" this resolution, Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said. "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 UN Security Council, which would have to approve the plan offered by Malaysia, the Netherlands, and other nations involved in a joint investigation of the airline crash.
Ukraine and Western countries accuse Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine of shooting down the plane with a Russian-made missile. But Moscow says it did not supply the rebels with SA-11 Buk anti-aircraft missile systems.
"We should wait for the results of the investigation, and then we can think about how to most effectively approach the legal proceedings," Churkin said.
A final report from investigators is due in October.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
From our news desk. More on Poroshenko's comments:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said the threat of terrorism has "significantly risen" in Ukraine.
"The level of guerrilla and terrorist threats in the regions outside the (conflict) zone has significantly risen," Poroshenko said during a meeting with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Interior Minister Arsen Avakov on July 10.
Poroshenko did not elaborate, but said the flow of weapons from the conflict zone, where Ukrainian troops are fighting pro-Russian separatists, posed a threat.
Kyiv considers Russian-backed rebels fighting against government troops in eastern Ukraine to be 'terrorists."
There have been dozens of minor terror incidents across Ukraine, including a bomb attack that killed at least two people and injured at least 10 at a rally in Kharkiv in February.
Kyiv has in the past accused Russia of "exporting terrorism" to Ukraine by providing weapons, training, and personnel to rebels in eastern Ukraine, a claim Russia denies.
In May, two Russian special forces soldiers captured in eastern Ukraine were charged with involvement in "terrorist activity."
The conflict in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 6,400 people since April 2014.