The ambassadors of Russia and Belarus were not included in the guest list for a special session of the Bundestag held on May 8 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, a spokesman for the German parliament said, quoted by Reuters, BTA reports.
The speaker specified that the federal government had carried out an "assessment" of the situation and had decided not to invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and other countries.
The event in the Bundestag plenary hall will be attended by representatives of other diplomatic missions. They will gather with German lawmakers to mark the end of the war and Nazi violence, as well as genocide in Europe.
The Russian ambassador to Berlin, Sergei Nechaev, attended a commemorative event in the eastern town of Seelow, despite warnings from the German government that Moscow intended to "instrumentalize" the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
The event in Seelow was dedicated to the Battle of Seelow Heights, one of the last battles of the war before the Soviet army marched on Berlin and Germany surrendered in May 1945. About 30,000 Soviet soldiers died in the battle for the Zelov Heights.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the German government's decision not to invite the ambassadors of Russia and Belarus to the special meeting on May 8 as an insult to the "direct descendants of Hitler's executioners".