MOSCOW (Reuters) – Twenty-nine world leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping, are expected to attend World War Two Victory Day commemorations in Moscow in the coming days, Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy adviser, said on Tuesday.
The events will run from May 8-11, with the traditional annual military parade taking place on Red Square in the heart of the Russian capital on May 9.
Military units from 13 countries, including China, will take part in the parade along with Russian troops and military vehicles and weapons systems, Ushakov said.
Several U.S. World War Two veterans are expected to attend, he said, but it was unclear for now if any U.S. officials would be there although the Kremlin has sent an invitation to the U.S. ambassador to Russia.
Ushakov said that North Korean troops, who Pyongyang confirmed in April for the first time had fought for Russia against Ukrainian troops, will not take part in the parade with North Korea’s ambassador representing Pyongyang.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 28 declared a three-day ceasefire to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazi Germany in World War Two.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
