Missing Moscow’s May Day Parade will be a Mistake on part of Heads of States, says Putin

The refusal on part of the leaders of former Soviet Union nations to attend Russia’s May Day Parade in 2020, which commemorates the end of the Second World War with a display of the country's military might, would be a grave mistake, says Vladimir Putin.

"It is their right to choose; but if they do not attend the ceremony due to today's political peculiarities, I think it would be a huge mistake, as it would mean that they lack respect for the people who fought candidly and sacrificed their lives for their homeland," says Putin.

Heads of states have formerly attended the parade, but circumstances were different then. Russia had not yet gone to war with Georgia, annexed Crimea, or invaded Ukraine. With many nations still at odds with Russia over these matters, among many others, it has become contentious for the presidents of many countries to attend a military parade in Moscow. 

The Moscow May Day Parade will mark the 75th anniversary of the fall of Nazi Germany on the war's Eastern front. The ceremony is a remnant of the Soviet era, with Joseph Stalin presiding over the first such celebration in 1945. 

By E.Dzebisashvili