A group of relatives of victims of the MH17 disaster have sent open letters to US president Donald Trump and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen demanding Russian accountability for the tragedy in any peace deal.

The Working Group Truth-Finding MH17 sent the pair of letters on the third anniversary of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine after top US officials met their Russian counterparts to discuss a settlement without the presence of Kyiv.

“We firmly believe that any sincere peace settlement with Russia must include explicit recognition of this crime, accompanied by concrete action that demonstrates accountability. This should encompass a formal apology, thorough and public investigations into why this crime happened, identification of all involved, as well as appropriate reparations,” the families say.

European leaders have been scrambling to respond to Trump’s plans, which have been strongly rejected by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine … Europe must have a seat at the table when decisions about Europe are being made,” he said, speaking during the Munich Security Conference at the weekend.

In July 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was cruising at 33,000 feet when it was struck by a Buk missile fired by pro-Russian forces in the contested Donbas region of Ukraine. The missile exploded beside the cockpit, shredding the fabric of the aircraft and killing all 298 passengers and crew.

Five countries, led by the Netherlands, set up a Joint Investigation Team which traced the missile to a unit of the Russian army based in Kursk.

Three military commanders from the self-styled Donetsk People’s Republic were tried in absentia by a Dutch court and sentenced to life in prison for mass murder. A fourth defendant was acquitted.

None of the men has served a day in prison for the crime, though Igor Girkin, the former leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, has since been jailed in Russian for “inciting extremism” during the subsequent invasion of Ukraine.