The trials of any suspects arrested in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over war-torn eastern Ukraine three years ago will be held in the Netherlands, Dutch officials announced yesterday.

All 298 people on board were killed when the Boeing 777 jet was downed on July 17, 2014 on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

A joint international investigation has determined the plane was hit by a Russian-made BUK missile, fired from rebel-held territory, but a separate criminal probe has yet to result in any arrests.

Preliminary criminal findings have said about 100 people are under investigation for playing "an active role" in the disaster. Now the countries leading the joint investigation team - Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine - have agreed that any trials will be carried out within the Dutch legal system.

The countries "decided that the suspects should be prosecuted in the Netherlands, a process that will be rooted in ongoing international cooperation and support," Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders.

"This cooperation is vital, given the complexity of this case," he added, noting that eastern Ukraine was a conflict zone - "the scene of heavy fighting which is still difficult to access."

The investigation has been hampered by "a great deal of disinformation and attempts to discredit the investigation," Koenders said.

Most of the victims were Dutch, but Koenders said that in total they came from 17 countries spread across five continents.

Investigators concluded in September that a BUK missile, which had been transported over the border from Russia shortly before the incident, was fired from a field in eastern Ukraine, then controlled by pro-Russian rebels.

But it stopped short of saying who pulled the trigger.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE