Tony Abbott says “one way or another” he will speak to Vladimir Putin in the coming week about the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 and the death of 38 Australians.



In mid-October the prime minister declared his intention to “shirtfront” the Russian president about the tragedy and its aftermath at the looming G20 leaders’ meeting in Brisbane – a declaration Russian diplomats subsequently mocked.

On Thursday, after a meeting in Canberra with the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, Abbott did not resort to AFL analogies. He did not directly answer a question about whether he had yet secured a meeting with the Russian leader.

Abbott told reporters he would speak to Putin “one way or another” over the next week, either at the Apec summit in Beijing at the weekend or at the G20 gathering in Brisbane. The prime minister was asked whether he intended to “chase [Putin] down a corridor” in Beijing or in Brisbane to secure a one on one.

Rutte was also asked at Thursday’s press conference about his disposition towards Putin and what he would say to him in any discussion about MH17.

Abbott asked Rutte to respond to the question first, because the Dutch prime minister spoke to the Russian president a fortnight ago.

Rutte said he had told the president in Milan that his expectation was the Russians would pressure the separatists in Ukraine to allow unhindered access to the crash site, and allow remains and belongings to be recovered. The MH17 tragedy in July claimed the lives of 196 Dutch nationals, and 43 Malaysians.

Abbott said he would tell the Russian president when they encountered one another that Australia expected full cooperation with the investigation. “We owe it to our dead to secure justice, and Russia as a member of the international community owes it to the world, owes it to humanity, to ensure that justice is done, and wherever possible the perpetrators of this crime are brought to justice,” he told reporters.

“So that will be the conversation that I’ll be having with Vladimir Putin at the earliest possible moment.”

Abbott was asked by a Dutch reporter whether he stood by his early strong statements pinning the downing of the plane to Russian-backed rebels and whether he had “any idea who is really responsible for the downing of the plane”.

The Australian leader said his remarks were based on intelligence and he had not seen any evidence to contradict the initial conclusions: “We were given very strong security advice in the days following the atrocity … and there’s been nothing since then to question that original security advice.”

Rutte said the Netherlands was resolved to work with Australia not only on MH17, but on economic and security issues, particularly the issue of returning foreign fighters.

In the leadup to the looming international conferences, Abbott also addressed the issue of China-US relations. Australia is now in the middle of a diplomatically fraught negotiation about joining the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.

The US and Japan have concerns the Chinese-initiated proposal is more intended to expand China’s regional influence than creating a financing mechanism.

Abbott is leaving open the prospect that Australia could join if Beijing addresses concerns about transparency and governance. “The rise of China is in everyone’s interests,” he said on Thursday. “We’ve all benefited from the rise of China, and obviously the peaceful rise of China is in everyone’s interests.

“I would counsel against any eagerness on anyone’s part to pit China and America against each other. I think there is the makings of a good partnership there, and certainly that is what we want to encourage here in Australia.”