{"id":7708,"date":"2024-05-06T23:31:34","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T23:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=7708"},"modified":"2024-05-06T23:31:34","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T23:31:34","slug":"us-most-of-eu-boycotts-putin-inauguration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=7708","title":{"rendered":"US, most of EU boycotts Putin inauguration"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The United States and most European Union countries said they will skip Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“We will not have a representative at his inauguration,” Matthew Miller, U.S. State Department spokesman, said Monday.<\/p>\n

A senior Kremlin official said the heads of all the foreign diplomatic missions in Moscow had been invited to attend the event, the Interfax news agency reported, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n

Twenty EU member states plan to boycott Putin\u2019s inauguration for a sixth term, but seven others are expected to send a representative, a European diplomat told Reuters.<\/p>\n

Ukraine urged allies to not attend.<\/p>\n

“Ukraine sees no legal grounds for recognizing him as the democratically elected and legitimate president of the Russian Federation,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Putin won nearly 88% of the vote in the presidential election in March, just weeks after his greatest political foe Alexey Navalny died in jail.<\/p>\n

Western nations condemned the reelection as undemocratic.<\/p>\n

The inauguration comes more than two years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

France is expected to send a representative to the event despite Paris increasing its support for Ukraine in recent months. French President Emmanuel Macron said last week he would consider sending troops to Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Germany’s Foreign Ministry said it would not be represented at the inauguration, while Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania\u2019s foreign minister, said Russia must continue to be isolated because of its \u201ccriminal leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Participation in Putin’s inauguration is not acceptable for Lithuania,\u201d he said. \u201cOur priority remains support for Ukraine and its people fighting against Russian aggression.”<\/p>\n

Some information for this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n