Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko will cross paths during the D-Day celebrations in Normandy, but a bilateral meeting is not planned, the Russian leader’s spokesman said Wednesday.
“During the remembrance events, the leaders will be in the same group, so no contacts can be ruled out,” Dmitry Peskov said.
Putin is expected to attend the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France, where he will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
This will be first visit of the Russian president to Western Europe since the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis. France invited Putin to take part in the event several months ago and confirmed the invitation despite the disagreements on Ukraine.
Ukraine’s President-elect Petro Poroshenko is set to meet with US President Barack Obama, who was among the first to congratulate him on his victory in the early presidential vote on May 25.
In 1944, the Normandy landings opened the Western Front in the World War II, which left the Nazis caught between the allied US, British and European troops and the Soviet Army advancing from the East, Ria Novosti informs.
