(NewsWorthy.news) – The French presidency has announced that Russia will not be invited to the 80th anniversary of D-Day after discussion of Russia’s planned appearance at the event stirred up tensions between France and its allies.
An Elysée official stated that because of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and recent intensification of Russia’s war of aggression, the conditions were not right for Russia’s inclusion at the anniversary. A previous announcement in April by the event’s organizers said that, though they would not be inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin, some Russian representation at the event was planned due to the nation’s historic role in WWII.
Putin participated in the 60th anniversary commemorations of D-Day in 2004. In 2014, shortly after the illegal annexation of Crimea, he took part in commemorations again for the 70th D-Day anniversary. Putin was not invited to 2019 commemorations in Portsmouth, UK. As western leaders honored veterans, the Kremlin criticized western “exaggeration” of the impact of D-Day on the end of WWII. Russia was instrumental in defeating Germany on the Eastern Front, and suffered the heaviest military casualties in WWII. The Kremlin argued that D-Day was not a decisive factor in the last two years of the war. Having provoked negative reactions from other western leaders when President Emmanuel Macron said he would not rule out putting boots on the ground in Ukraine, France announced plans in May to send military trainers to the country within days.
Ukrainian organizations in France protested the plans to invite Russian officials to the event on June 6. The activists argued that under Putin’s rule, Russia embodies the same menace that the allies fought against in WWII. A letter sent by the groups to Macron claimed that a Russian presence at the commemorations would “devalue” the Ukrainian people’s suffering along with the sacrifices made by allied troops in the fight for freedom in WWII. The French presidency recognized the efforts of the Soviet Union, including former Soviet states, in fighting the Third Reich, and stressed that the historic struggle of Russians against Nazism would be commemorated through “gestures” in the ceremony’s program. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to attend the commemorations in Normandy to highlight how the plight of Ukraine parallels that of occupied France during WWII.
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