Russia was not invited to the 80th ceremoniese anniversary of the Normandy landings, June 6, due to its “war of aggression” against Ukraine, the Élysée announced on Thursday, thus reversing an initial decision.
“There will be no Russian delegation. The conditions are not met given the war of aggression that Russia is waging against Ukraine and which has further intensified in recent weeks,” indicated the French presidency.
In April, Russian President Vladimir Putin was declared persona non grata but the Liberation Mission, which organizes the commemorations, then indicated that Russia would be invited to another level in the name of the Soviet Union’s contribution, on the eastern front, to victory against Nazi Germany.
Tribute will be paid to this “decisive contribution” through various “gestures”, notably in the cemeteries where Russian soldiers rest in France and as part of the “ceremony program” on June 6, the Élysée assured.
During his visit to Germany earlier this week, Emmanuel Macron announced that his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, would attend these commemorations in Normandy, as would the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and the American President, Joe Biden.
“We have always paid tribute to the action of the Red Army, to its decisive contribution to the final victory against Nazism, always recognized the particularly heavy price paid by the USSR, without shortcuts or amalgamation, without being fooled either of the exploitation that could sometimes be made of it in Russia,” noted a presidential advisor.
Trudeau in favor of Russia’s presence
Justin Trudeau, for his part, supported Mission Libération’s initial decision to invite Russian officials to a “D-Day” commemoration, despite his “extreme disagreement” with the invasion of Ukraine.
“We will continue to emphasize our disagreement with Russia and the current regime, even as we recognize the work we all did together as allies to fight Nazism and to liberate France and Europe during the Second World War,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters in Toronto in French.
Justin Trudeau said Moscow must be held accountable for any violations of fundamental rules relating to respecting sovereign borders and that his message to all Russian officials has always been the same.
“If the lines on a map can be redrawn by a neighbor with a larger military, then the period of stability we have seen since the end of World War II would end. And the prosperity and opportunities available, not just to people in Western democracies, but throughout the world, would be in danger,” he said at a press conference on Thursday.
Bloc Québécois foreign affairs critic Stéphane Bergeron predicted there would be “unease” during commemorations in the presence of Russia, while Liberal MP John McKay said Mr. Trudeau should prepare a message to any Russian officials he meets.
“It has to be simple, it has to be direct, and it has to be that Putin leaves Ukraine now,” McKay said.
The Russian Embassy in Ottawa and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress were asked for comment but did not provide an immediate response.
Vladimir Putin was invited to the celebrations of the 60e anniversary in June 2004, alongside Jacques Chirac, then those of the 70e in 2014 despite Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
However, he had not been invited to the 75e anniversary of “D-Day”, in 2019, when the situation was getting bogged down in eastern Ukraine and relations were already strained heavily with the West.
Moscow then called not to “exaggerate” the importance of the Allied landings, recalling the 27 million Soviet deaths during the Second World War.
The Kremlin has also regularly justified its offensive against Ukraine since 2022 by the need to “denazify” this former Soviet republic.