Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's government has invited senior European officials to Kiev on May 9 as a show of diplomatic force against Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual military parade in Moscow the same day, Politico reports.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Andriy Szybiga extended the invitation to his European Union counterparts during a meeting in Luxembourg, urging them to "show our unity and resolve in the face of the greatest aggression in Europe since World War II".
Separately, Zelensky would like to host leaders on May 9 from the coalition of those willing to "define security guarantees" for Ukraine, after a possible ceasefire with Russia is agreed, Sibiha added. The United States is not part of that coalition.
While he did not specify where that meeting would take place, discussions are underway about a potential visit to Ukraine in early May by heads of state, including future German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, two EU diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the potential future event.
The Russian president has extended invitations to the leaders of Israel, China, Brazil, Slovakia and Serbia to join him in Moscow for celebrations marking Russia’s 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, according to Russian media. He did not invite the United States or most EU member states.
Twenty years ago, then-US President George W. Bush and France's Jacques Chirac attended the 2005 Red Square parade in Moscow, but in recent years no Western leader has attended.
So far, Russia has ignored pressure to stop attacking Ukraine, killing 34 people and wounding more than 170 in a ballistic missile attack on the center of Sumy - an attack that drew widespread condemnation from leaders including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump, for his part, called the attack "terrible" but did not criticize Russia.