UPD: Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev will not fly to Moscow, reported Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov, writes RIA Novosti.
Orban's office stated that such a visit is «not being discussed» because for the Hungarian people, the end of World War II had a «different significance» than for other states, TASS specifies. From the EU, only Slovakia's Prime Minister Fico will arrive, who noted that he is being threatened for his desire to attend the parade. It was previously reported that Poland and Lithuania closed their airspace to the plane of Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico and Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic. The European Commission stated that Vucic's presence at the parade in Moscow would have consequences for the country's EU accession talks.
Vucic was supposed to arrive today, however, according to Serbian portals Novosti and Blic, the president's plane was forced to land in Baku as Russia was attacked by drones. Later, he flew to Moscow.
As noted by the publication «We Can Explain»*, more than a third of Russia's allies in the SCO and BRICS refused to attend the anniversary parade in Moscow under various pretexts. Out of 15 SCO countries, leaders of six countries will not come to Russia, BRICS will be represented by only half of the member countries.
Leaders of Pakistan and India will be absent from the parade due to the escalating military conflict between these countries. Pakistan completely ignored the parade after the terrorist attack in Kashmir, and India canceled the already announced visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will send a Ministry of Defense delegation to Moscow.
South Africa will send the Minister of Defense, and Iran, where stable leadership has not yet been formed after the death of President Raisi, will be represented by the ambassador. Indonesia, which joined BRICS this year, will also send only the Minister of Defense to the parade. The head of the UAE, joining BRICS in 2024, also has not expressed a desire to come to Moscow.
This morning, the President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro, the President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel, and the President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh have already arrived in the capital, reported propaganda media. Also expected today are China's leader Xi Jinping and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
In the coming days, leaders of Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Burkina Faso, Abkhazia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Congo, Mongolia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Guinea-Bissau, South Ossetia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Zimbabwe, and Ethiopia are also expected to arrive.
* Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent».
Photo: Reuters