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Newman ‘would seek apology from Putin’

AAP

AAP

There’ll be no shirtfronting but there will be a demand for an apology if Queensland Premier Campbell Newman crosses Vladimir Putin’s path at the G20 summit.

Thirty-eight Australians, including seven Queenslanders, were among the 298 people killed when flight MH17 was shot down in Ukraine near the Russian border in July.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott famously threatened to shirtfront the Russian president over Russia’s alleged involvement in the disaster. But that failed to eventuate when they met on the sidelines of this week’s APEC summit in Beijing.

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Mr Newman was asked about the Abbott-Putin encounter on Wednesday, and how he’d react if he encounters the Russian president at this weekend’s G20.

He said he would tell President Putin of the grief and pain Australian families continue to suffer.

“I’d be just saying this can’t be allowed to sit where it is, we need to see an apology,” he told Fairfax Radio.

“We need to see compensation, we need to see the people who did this criminal act, this terrible thing, brought to justice.”

During their meeting, Mr Abbott told Mr Putin that Australia was in possession of information that clearly pointed to Russian involvement in the rebel attack that downed the plane in Ukraine.

If true it “would be a very serious matter”, he said.

Mr Newman will spend Wednesday greeting international dignitaries as they touch down at the Brisbane International Airport.

He will hold “sidebar” meetings with the prime ministers of India and Turkey and the president of China Xi Jinping.

Mr Newman will also attend a final security briefing with the police commissioner on Wednesday morning.

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