Lukashenko will not come to Moscow to the Victory Parade

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko does not plan to take part in the Moscow Victory Parade on May 9, RIA Novosti reports. “The president will be in Minsk on May 9. On May 9, we have our own parade as in Moscow,” the agency quotes his quoted. According to Lukashenko, "except for the commander in chief, no one will take the parade."

Lukashenko added that on May 7-8 he will be able to visit Moscow with the Belarusian delegation and "demonstrate our unity with the Russian people and others who appreciate this victory." He suggested that he could take part in the ceremony of laying wreaths to the grave of an unknown soldier.

The President also recalled that on May 8 in Moscow it is planned to hold a number of events in the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union of the CSTO and the CIS. “I cannot but take part in this,” Lukashenko emphasized.

“But I will try on May 8, even at night, to return home, and on May 9 to hold a parade. I plan this way to date,” he said, adding that the presidential administration is currently closing his work schedule.

Lukashenko also regretfully noted that in only two states, Belarus and Russia, Victory Day is celebrated at a high level. “Unfortunately, more and more, who are quiet, who are defiantly, as in Ukraine, refuses these celebrations and holidays. We believe that we must pay tribute to those who died, defending his homeland, and still lives,” he concluded.

Earlier, US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron abandoned the invitation to Moscow. Such a decision was reported due to the ongoing conflict in the east of Ukraine.

The Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, as expected, will also not be present at the Victory Parade, but will lay flowers to the grave of an unknown soldier in Moscow on May 10. Merkel’s refusal to visit the parade, the German media reported, is also associated with a conflict in Ukraine.

In mid -March, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reported that the heads of 26 countries, including the presidents of South Africa and India, as well as the leader of China, confirmed participation in the celebrations in Moscow. The DPRK leader Kim Jong -un is also going to the Victory Parade in Moscow.

In 2005, at the celebrations in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Victory in the Second World War, 28 chapters of state were present, according to Lavrov.