Russia will be invited to send representatives to the international ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-day – but not Vladimir Putin, the French organisers have announced.
The Elysée is reported to have accepted that the country be represented but that its leader is not welcome because of Moscow’s ongoing war on Ukraine.
“In view of the circumstances, President Putin will not be invited to take part in the commemorations of the Normandy landings,” the Liberation Mission organising committee said.
“Russia will, however, be invited to be represented so that the importance of the commitment and sacrifices of the Soviet peoples, as well as its contribution to the victory of 1945, can be honoured.”
It added: “Unlike the Kremlin regime, France does not pursue a policy of historical revisionism.”
No other information was given and neither the Russian embassy in Paris nor the Kremlin reacted to the statement or indicated whether the invitation would be accepted.
More than 20 million Soviet troops died during the second world war.
Putin was invited to and attended the ceremony to mark 70th anniversary of the D-day landings despite Russia’s annexation of Crimea a few months earlier.
At the time, the French president François Hollande said: “You can have differences of opinion with Vladimir Putin, but I have never forgotten and never will forget that the Russian people gave millions of lives”
Following the June 2014 commemorations, Putin and the then Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko met at the Elysée for talks after a Moscow backed a pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine.
Putin was not invited to the 75th commemorations attended by Donald Trump but the Elysée said this was not unusual as Russia was invited to the major decade commemorations.