Russia announced on Thursday it would withdraw from consultations with the Netherlands and Australia over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down over Ukraine in 2014.

Iran PressEurope: Russia's Foreign Ministry accused the Netherlands and Australia of not trying to establish what happened in the disaster and instead make vicious attempts to pin the blame on Moscow. 

"Hostile acts by the Netherlands have made any continuation of the trilateral consultations and our participation senseless," the ministry said in a statement.

"Australia and the Netherlands have obviously not tried to understand what really happened in summer 2014, but rather just wanted to secure a confession from Russia and compensation for the victims' relatives," it added. 

Moscow said it will continue its cooperation in the investigation, but "in a different format."

On July 17, 2014, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 departed from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. As it passed over a part of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Moscow separatist rebels, a missile hit the carrier, killing all 298 people on board, including 196 Dutch citizens and 38 Australians.

Since 2018, Russia, Australia, and the Netherlands have held talks aimed at uncovering the causes of the disaster. 

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