Pashinyan Refused To Go To Putin's Victory Day Parade

Putin may be left almost alone in Red Square.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Thursday that he will not travel to Moscow for the May 9 Victory Day parade, News.am reported. "I informed the president of this country [Vladimir Putin] about this during my visit to Russia in April," he told reporters. Pashinyan gave the reason for the decision as the need to participate in the election campaign ahead of Armenia's National Assembly elections scheduled for June 7.

The Armenian prime minister, who has embarked on a course of rapprochement with the United States and the European Union and announced the republic's future withdrawal from the Kremlin-controlled CSTO, has previously skipped a parade on Red Square. In 2024, he explained that the head of Armenia should not come to Moscow for May 9 every year. In 2023 and 2025, Pashinyan was among the guests at the parade and laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

This year's parade in Moscow, which for the first time since 2007 will be held without military equipment because of the threat of incoming Ukrainian drones, is to be attended by several foreign leaders, RIA Novosti writes. However, the Kremlin has not yet named the full list of guests who have agreed to arrive. Presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov noted that it will be announced "closer to the holiday."

Besides Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Malaysian leader Sultan Ibrahim, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitzo is due to fly to Moscow. The politician noted, however, that he was not going to attend the Victory Parade. According to the Slovak leader, he intends to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and hold a meeting with Putin.

Last year, among others, Chinese leader Si Jinping, as well as Fitzo and Serbian President Alexander Vucic came to Moscow for the 80th anniversary of the Victory. A total of 27 leaders, including unrecognized and partially recognized regions, confirmed their arrival in Russia. The heads of Azerbaijan and Laos Ilham Aliyev and Thongloun Sisoulith refused to participate at the last moment.

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