Representatives of France’s allied countries were dissatisfied with the organizers’ decision to invite the Russian delegation to the ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the landing of Allied forces in Normandy. They considered this inappropriate in the context of Russia’s new offensive in Ukraine. However, the Russian side never received an official invitation. Just as she did not receive an invitation to the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landing, then Vladimir Putin said that he is not a “wedding general” and he has “enough of his own things to do.”
Politico found that France’s decision to invite Russia to take part in the ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy has increased tensions between Western countries.
In April, Paris announced its intention to invite a Russian delegation to the event on June 6, despite Moscow advancing its military operation in Ukraine. Great Britain, the USA, and their allies are concerned about this; they do not know how to behave with Russian representatives, the American publication Politico writes.
In a conversation with reporters, two representatives of the American administration said that the White House was dissatisfied with the invitation of the Russian Federation, but they were ready to submit to the French government, which was organizing the event.
“Perhaps this will remind the Russians that they actually fought real Nazis once, not imaginary ones in Ukraine,” one of the White House administration officials said.
In Britain, they noted that they were generally concerned about the latest actions of representatives of the French administration: they received Chinese leader Xi Jinping and sent their representative to the inauguration of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A British government source told Politico that French President Emmanuel Macron sees himself as “some form of peace broker” in Ukraine, which is “completely misplaced.”
Another diplomat told the publication that Paris “took everyone by surprise” with the Russian invitation. He was disappointed by this decision, given that US President Joe Biden, British King Charles III, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are planning to take part in the event. According to the diplomat, discussions on this issue continue among the French.
Why was Russia invited?
The ceremony is organized by Mission Libération, headed by former French Ambassador to Washington Philippe Etienne. Representatives of the organization said that Russian President Vladimir Putin will become persona non grata at the event. However, since France has historically always invited representatives of the allied countries in World War II to the ceremony and “France does not do political revisionism of history,” the invitation was extended to Russia. However, the organizers did not say which Russians they invited.
The French said that their policy towards the Ukrainian conflict and the invitation of the Russian delegation are “not incompatible” since they can be “very tough with Putin” and at the same time talk to the Russian leader.
Former British Defense Secretary Tobias Ellwood supported Russia’s invitation. He believes that if Moscow were not invited, then “we would risk blurring the geopolitics of today with the unity of purpose in defeating Nazism in the past.”
Russia did not receive an invitation
Back in April, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an interview with Sputnik radio that Russia never received an official invitation to the ceremony, this was also published in TASS.
“We contacted our Ambassador [to France] Alexey Meshkov regarding the reports in French media. So far, we have not received any confirmation via diplomatic channels,” Maria Zakharova said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed that France did not officially invite the Russian side. This was also reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
“This is how they do it. Once they decide to do something, they are unable to stay within the bounds of decency. Decent people first send a letter and then announce it,” Lavrov noted. What they said was, “We will invite someone, but not Putin”.”
“No one invited anyone. We haven’t received anything. If we do, we will definitely tell you,” Lavrov added.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said that the organizers did not notify the presidential administration of the decision not to invite Putin to the ceremony. Peskov noted that in Russia the main holiday is Victory Day, and not the anniversary of the landing of Allied troops in Normandy.
Once every five years
France organizes commemorations of the Allied landings in Normandy during World War II on June 6, 1944, every five years. They invite foreign heads of state and veterans.
Putin has already attended ceremonies marking the 60th and 70th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy, with the second ceremony taking place just a few months after Crimea became part of the Russian Federation. However, he was not invited to the 75th anniversary. Then Putin said that he is not a “wedding general” so that he must be invited everywhere.
“I have enough of my own business. This is not a problem at all,” the Russian President added.
