MH17 crash: Russia furious at 'unacceptable' Tony Abbott comments

Mark Kenny

Chief political correspondent

Moscow has voiced anger over being blamed by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott for the downing of a Malaysia passenger jet over eastern Ukraine that killed all 298 people on board, calling his comments "unacceptable".

"Without bothering himself about evidence and operating only on speculation, Mr T. Abbott assigned guilt," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "Abbott's statements are unacceptable." 

On Friday, Australia issued a blunt ultimatum to Moscow and was reconsidering Vladimir Putin's attendance at the G20 in November as the world reeled from the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, killing 298 people - 28 of them Australians.

Declaring the tragedy was not an accident, Mr Abbott said Russia now faced a crucial test of its international citizenship, as he called on the international community to take the strongest possible action to ensure such an "appalling crime" can never be repeated.

The forceful comments came after Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop emerged from a meeting with Russia's ambassador to Australia Vladimir Morozov, to reveal Moscow had denied the involvement of pro-Russian rebels and attempted to lay the blame at Ukraine's feet.

Overnight, a US official in Washington said a preliminary US intelligence assessment indicated that MH17 was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile fired by pro-Russian separatists.

Meanwhile, commentary from China's state-owned Xinhua news agency described the reaction by Australia and the US as "rash", and warned Western nations against rushing to implicate Russia.

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With James Massola, Reuters

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/mh17-crash-russia-furious-at-unacceptable-tony-abbott-comments-20140719-zuq68.html#ixzz37rKsAvkp