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.
