Moscow – The Kremlin has declined to comment on Washington's remarks that U.S. President Barack Obama does not plan to attend the commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II in Moscow on May 9.
“We will make an appropriate announcement after information about all participants in the May 9 commemorations is summed up,” the Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Interfax.
Peskov also said he was not aware of the U.S. leader’s refusal to attend the May 9 events in Moscow.
Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said in late December 2014 that the heads of all states, including the U.S. leader, that used to be the Soviet Union’s allies in the anti-Hitler coalition during WWII had been invited to the V-Day festivities in Moscow.
However, Benjamin Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security advisor for strategic communication, said in Washington that the U.S. president had no plans to visit Moscow.
Peskov told the Russian News Service radio earlier that there would be no reaction from the Kremlin to Obama’s possible refusal to attend the 70th V-Day anniversary in Moscow.
By the end of January 2015, some 20 heads of state had confirmed their attendance at the May 9 events in the Russian capital, according to the Russian authorities.
