Prime Minister Tony Abbott will fly to Beijing on Sunday morning where he’ll finally get his face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The prime minister has been seeking an audience with Mr Putin since Malaysia Airlines flight 17 was shot down over east Ukraine, killing all 298 people aboard, including 38 Australian citizens and residents.

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They’ll both arrive in China over the weekend for the annual APEC leaders’ summit, and the Kremlin has confirmed the duo will hold a short formal meeting on Tuesday.

Mr Abbott did not repeat his previous threat to “shirtfront” the Russian president when asked about their impending talk on Saturday.

But he said they’d have “a robust conversation” to ensure Mr Putin guarantees he’s doing everything possible to assist investigations into the MH17 disaster.

“I will speak for our dead, I will speak for our nation, I will speak for decency and for humanity,” Mr Abbott said.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop hosed down concerns Mr Abbott’s previous choice of language would derail discussions.

“Since the phrase shirtfront was used, I understand it has now entered the diplomatic lexicon of many countries,” she said.