Tony Abbott to 'confront' Vladimir Putin on MH17 shooting

• 13.10.2014, 10:41

Australian PM Tony Abbott has said he plans to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin over the shooting down of a Malaysian passenger plane in July.

MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine. All 298 passengers, including 38 Australians, died.

Mr Abbott said they were "murdered with Russian support". Pro-Russian rebels denied being behind the attack, BBC reports.

He is set to meet Mr Putin at the G20 meeting in Brisbane in November.

The prime minister told reporters on Monday: "Look, I'm going to shirtfront Mr Putin ... you bet I am."

Shirtfronting is an Australian football term which means aggressively charging and knocking down one's opponent.

"I am going to be saying to Mr Putin [that] Australians were murdered. They were murdered by Russian-backed rebels using Russian-supplied equipment," he said in remarks quoted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Mr Putin has denied Russia had any involvement in the incident. Mr Abbott has faced criticism at home for allowing Mr Putin to attend the summit.