“Russia will do everything to prevent global confrontation, but we will not allow anyone to threaten us,” Vladimir Putin told soldiers in Moscow. May 9 is a public holiday in Russia, marking Nazi Germany’s capitulation.
05/09/2024 May 9, 2024 Laos, Cuba, Guinea-Bissau, Belarus send leaders, Armenia doesn’t
Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo was the highest ranking African politician in attendance Image: Alexei Maishev/TASS/dpa/picture alliance
For a time in post-Soviet Russia, Western leaders would be a common sight at the May 9 commemorations, just as Putin would often attend May 8 events.
That has not been the case at the latest since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, if not before.
But leading politicians from several countries were in Moscow on Thursday for the event, particularly but not only from the former Soviet sphere.
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Laos and Guinea-Bissau all sent delegations.
Laos’ President Thongloun Sisoulith and Putin posed for the cameras ahead of the parade Image: Mikhail Metzel/TASS/Russian President Press Office/dpa/picture alliance
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was also expected, until he said while in Moscow on Wednesday that he would not be attending.
Pashinyan and Armenia’s stance towards Russia has frayed since rival Azerbaijan successfully took control of the disputed territory of Nagrono-Karabakh in two stages of conflict in recent years.
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