President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that a Russian army missile did not bring down Malaysia Airlines Flight over eastern Ukraine in 2014, rebuffing Dutch investigators who concluded that a Russian missile system was used in the attack.

Putin, when asked at an economic forum in St Petersburg whether a Russian army missile was involved, said: "Of course not".

Putin said that Moscow could not fully trust Dutch findings about the incident because Moscow had not been involved in the investigation.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Friday said Russia was partly responsible for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and demanded that Moscow acknowledge its role.

A Dutch cabinet statement said a "possible" next step would be presenting the case to an international court, adding Australia shared its assessment of Russia's role.

Speaking after the Netherlands and Australia said they would hold Russia legally responsible in the MH17 disaster, Rutte appealed to Russia to cooperate with an criminal investigation and negotiate over reparations.

International criminal investigators have "irrefutably established that Russia can be held responsible for their part in downing MH17, and they are responsible for deploying" the missile launcher that was used to shoot it down, Rutte said.

MH17 was shot down over territory held by pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 aboard.

Britain's foreign minister Boris Johnson said Russia must answer for its actions after a report into the shooting down of a civilian flight over eastern Ukraine in 2014 said the missile involved belonged to a unit of the Russian army.

"The Kremlin believes it can act with impunity," Johnson said in a statement. "The Russian government must now answer for its actions in relation to the downing of MH17."

"This is an egregious example of the Kremlin’s disregard for innocent life," he added. Ten Britons were killed in the incident.

Relations between Britain and Russia are already at a post Cold-War low after the poisoning with a nerve agent of a former Russian spy and his daughter in England in March, an attack for which Britain blames the Kremlin. Russia denies any involvement in either that incident or the aircraft downing.

The Dutch cabinet on Friday said it would hold the Russian state responsible for "its role" in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 in July 2014.

"Holding a country responsible is a complex legal process," the cabinet said.

"The Netherlands and Australia have asked Russia today to enter a dialogue in order to come to a solution that does justice to the enormous suffering and damage caused by the downing of flight MH17."

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