PARIS
The Russian president will attend D-Day anniversary commemoration next month, which will mark the first time Vladimir Putin and Western leaders meet face to face since the outbreak of the crisis in Ukraine.
Putin will attend the 70th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day invasion in France next month, confirmed Russian ambassador to France on Thursday.
"President Putin has been invited by French President Francois Hollande to take part in the ceremonies to commemorate the Normandy landings on June 6th. He has accepted the invitation. He will be coming," Alexander Orlov told BFM television.
On the 6th of June, Putin will join President Barack Obama and European leaders to mark the 70th anniversary of the World War II Normandy landings.
On Thursday, Hollande renewed his invitation to Putin to attend the commemoration.
"We may have our differences with Vladimir Putin at the moment, namely over the crisis in Ukraine, but I will never forget that the Russian people gave millions of lives during World War II so that we could be free," Hollande told France 2 television.
"I say to Vladimir Putin, as the representative of the Russian people, that he is welcome at the ceremony," he added.
The Invasion of Normandy, knowing as D-Day, was the invasion and establishment of Western Allied forces in Normandy in 1944 during World War II. It was the largest amphibious invasion to ever take place.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
