Russia wants to talk about truth and wishes to influence the fate of other countries yet is afraid of an investigation and is also lying, said Slovak President Andrej Kiska on Thursday via his Facebook page. This was in reaction to Russia's veto of a UN resolution on creating an international tribunal for investigating the downing of a Malaysia Airlines aircraft in eastern Ukraine in July of last year. According to Kiska's comments, Russia is attempting to evade justice in front of the entire world. Meanwhile, everybody wants Russia to become a real friend and partner. "[Russian President] Vladimir Putin, unfortunately, has made his country into something that every free-thinking person can only shake their head at in disbelief", said Kiska, before offering an olive branch to the Russian people. "I like Russian culture, and I value the Russian people, so I believe that Russia's intellect will soon overcome this ideological machinery and that Russia will become a trustworthy partner", wrote Kiska. Moscow chose to veto the setting up of a tribunal for the downed passenger airliner, stating that there's no reason to do so and that the issue doesn't come under the remit of the UN Security Council. At the same time it cast doubt on an investigation under Dutch leadership. Ukraine and the West claim that the aircraft was shot down by pro-Russian separatists, while Moscow denies any involvement in the incident. The motion for tribunal was submitted by five countries participating in the joint investigation into the case: Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Malaysia and Ukraine, with the latter being the most affected by the incident. The proposal received support from 11 countries on 15-member UN Security Council, with Angola, China and Venezuela abstaining from the vote and Russia being the only country to vote against it. The Boeing-777 on the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur line was shot down on July 17, 2014, with all 298 people onboard dying. According to Ukraine and the West, the aircraft was downed by pro-Russian separatists with a Buk missile system provided by Russia. Moscow has denied any involvement in the incident, however.

Gavin Shoebridge Foto: TASR