'Not welcome!' French organisers 'ban' Putin from attending D-Day 80th anniversary celebrations

'Not welcome!' French organisers 'ban' Putin from attending D-Day 80th anniversary celebrations

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GB News
George Bunn

By George Bunn


Published: 17/04/2024

- 19:38

Russian representatives will be asked to attend instead

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be invited to a event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

The French organisers of the event confirmed the Russian President is barred from entering the event as a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine.


The commemorations in June mark the day when more than 150,000 Allied soldiers invaded France to drive out the forces of Nazi Germany. Millions of Soviet soldiers died in the war.

Putin has rarely left Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, in part because of an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for his arrest that Moscow says it does not recognise.

\u200bVladimir Putin and D-Day cemetery

Putin will not be allowed to attend the event in France

Getty

The event in Normandy is organised by The Liberation Mission, who spoke out against the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

A spokesperson said: "For more than two years now, the Russian Federation has been waging a war of aggression against Ukraine, which France condemns in the strongest possible terms.

"Given these circumstances, President Putin will not be invited to take part in the Normandy landings commemoration.

"Russia will nevertheless be invited to be represented, given the importance of its role and the sacrifice of the Soviet people, so that their contribution to the victory in 1945 can be honoured."

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