Australia

Australia, Holland, Russia start talks over downed MH17

Associated Press
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Netherlands' Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stef Blok, left, listens as Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne talks during a press conference in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, March 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne, right, listens as Netherlands' Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stef Blok, talks during a press conference in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, March 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

The Netherlands and Australia have confirmed three-way talks with Russia have begun over the ongoing criminal investigation into the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in 2014.

The two countries announced last year they were holding Russia responsible for providing the missile fired by pro-Russian forces in war-torn Ukraine that hit the jet, causing the deaths of all 298 people aboard, including 196 Dutch and 38 Australians.

After diplomatic approaches were made earlier this year, Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok and his Australian counterpart Marise Payne said Wednesday that the first trilateral talks about state responsibility for the incident took place earlier this month.

On his visit to Canberra, Blok told a news conference he could not reveal details about the meetings because of confidentiality issues.