Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly has apologised to the families of Australians who died when MH17 was shot down after saying Russia's role in the crime should be "looked over."

Mr Kelly told Sky News yesterday there was not much to gain from world leaders putting pressure on Russia for its role in bringing down the plane.

He made the comments after father Anthony Maslin, whose three children were killed on the flight, criticised US President Donald Trump's meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

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Mr Kelly's suggestion angered the families of MH17 victims and drew condemnation from across the political spectrum.

This morning the backbencher did a series of media interviews to deal with the political fallout.

He said he "unreservedly apologised" for any distress he caused to the families of those who died.

"I have the greatest sympathy for everyone who had family and friends aboard that flight," Mr Kelly told Radio National Breakfast.

But he insisted in all the interviews that his original comments had been taken out of context and twisted by his political opponents.

"I'd also say it's very disappointing that some people have taken political advantage by taking those comments out of context, and have also caused additional harm to those families," he said.

He also repeatedly said he stood by his argument that it would have been pointless for Mr Trump to publicly harangue Mr Putin about Russia's role in the crime during their meeting in Helsinki.

"As much it galls us and as much as I myself would like to shirtfront President Putin … the reality of the world is that we need the US and Russia, the presidents of both countries, to have a good relationship."

Sorry, this video has expired Liberal MP says Russia's crimes should be "looked over" for sake of good relations

That comment from Mr Kelly echoes a phrase made famous by then-prime minister Tony Abbott in the months following the MH17 disaster.

Mr Abbott vowed to "shirtfront" the Russian President at the G20 summit over his country's involvement in shooting down the airliner and its response to the international investigation.

At the time, Mr Kelly wrote on his public Facebook page supporting Mr Abbott and calling for Mr Putin to apologise.

A screenshot of a post on Craig Kelly's official Facebook page from November 2014. ( Facebook: Craig Kelly )

"It's time to apologise Mr Putin," Mr Kelly wrote.

"It's great to see Tony providing leadership on the world stage."

Victims' family say Kelly 'needs to have a good look at himself'

Doctors Roger and Jill Guard were on board flight MH17 returning from a European holiday. ( Supplied )

Australian man Paul Guard, whose parents Roger and Jill Guard were also among the 298 people killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was hit by a surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine in 2014, said Mr Kelly was showing a complete lack of compassion.

"I think that he doesn't really deserve to have a voice on the national stage if he's going to have views like that, which clearly don't have any empathy for people like us who have lost loved ones," Mr Guard told AM.

And he dismissed Mr Kelly's apology this morning.

"Craig Kelly's 'apology' is not much of an apology since he cast doubt on the findings of the international investigation and Russian responsibility straight afterwards," he said on Facebook.

"Also the comments were hardly taken out of context (as he claims), it is exactly the context they were in that make his comments so offensive."

Mo, Otis and Evie Maslin from Perth were killed along with their grandfather Nick Norris in the MH17 crash. ( Supplied )

But other families said they were glad Mr Kelly had said he was sorry.

John and Mary O'Brien's 25-year-old son Jack was also killed on MH17.

They said Mr Kelly's comments were distressing, but they accepted his apology.

"He's made an apology. That's a good thing," Mr O'Brien said.

"In some ways we weren't too swayed by [the comments] because we know the Federal Government is committed to the investigation into MH17.

"We've met with Federal Police who are over working in Ukraine and we are absolutely convinced they are resolute in their commitment to seeing accountability for what happened to Jack and everyone else on MH17."

Julie Bishop says Australia not giving up on justice

Sorry, this video has expired Julie Bishop says Russia must answer questions following new MH17 revelations ( Philip Williams )

Speaking from London prior to Mr Kelly's apology, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop took a measured swipe at her colleague.

"No-one should underestimate the anguish and pain that the victims of MH17 families feel and I hope that Craig takes that into account," Ms Bishop said.

Ms Bishop also denied Mr Kelly's suggestion that nations should "look over" what Russia has done in the past.

"If I were meeting with President Putin, I would have urged him to accept state responsibility for Russia's role in the downing of MH17, that's what I would have done," she said.

In May, the Australian Government announced that it held Russia responsible for the downing of MH17 following an extensive joint investigation, which included authorities from several nationals including Australia, Belgium and Malaysia.

It found the missile system used to down MH17 belonged to the Russian army.

During his interview on Sky News, Mr Kelly appeared to cast doubt on who was to blame.

"You can't bring these people back to life. Now we don't know who pressed the button, who gave the orders," Mr Kelly said.

Thirty-eight Australians were among the 298 people who died when MH17 was shot down. ( Reuters: Maxim Zmeyev )

Ms Bishop said the Government will not give up on trying to seek justice for the victims and their families.

"We have attributed state responsibility to Russia and we will continue to seek to negotiate with Russia over its role in the bringing down of MH 17," Ms Bishop said.

Mr Guard said the reiteration of the Government's and Labor's positions provides some reassurance.

"For us to go easy on Russia is not do any honour to those who we have lost. It is important that we do hold Russia to account and also make sure that people don't forget about this violation of international law and common human decency," he said.