It becomes clear which EU members’ representatives will attend Putin’s inauguration

Such a different diplomatic response of the Western powers illustrates how strongly opinions differ on how to respond to the Russian leader, who started the war in Ukraine more than two years ago, writes Reuters.

The US will also not send a representative to Putin’s inauguration, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. “We certainly didn’t think those elections were free and fair, but he is the president of Russia and he intends to continue in that position,” Miller was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The publication RFE/RL, based on information from sources, announces that representatives of six EU members – France, Hungary, Slovakia, Greece, Malta and Cyprus – will participate in V. Putin’s inauguration. Belgium also considered sending its representative to the event, but changed its mind. The “Deutsche Welle” portal also mentions France, Hungary and Slovakia among the countries whose representatives should participate in V. Putin’s inauguration.

Before the inauguration of V. Putin, Ukraine called on the international community to no longer recognize him as the legitimate head of state of Russia.

The reason for this is the organization of Russian presidential elections in the parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kherson regions and the Crimean peninsula occupied by Moscow. Here, “millions of Ukrainian citizens were forced through threats and blackmail” to participate in the vote, according to the statement.

“Ukraine does not see any legal grounds for recognizing the mentioned person as the democratically elected and legitimate president of the Russian Federation,” according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

The inauguration of the president-elect, which will take place on Tuesday, “is intended to create the illusion that the Russian Federation is an aggressor country, and a person who turned the ruling regime into a dictatorship can legitimately remain in power almost all his life,” says Ukraine.

A senior Kremlin official says that the heads of all diplomatic missions in Moscow have been invited to Putin’s inauguration, Interfax reported.

One European diplomat assured Reuters that twenty European Union member states will boycott the inauguration, and several are planning to send their representatives.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell strongly opposed participation in the event, according to his representative Peter Stano in Brussels.

Germany’s foreign ministry says it will not send representatives, and two European diplomats say they do not expect the United States to have a representative, although Washington has not made any public statement on the matter.

According to the source, France condemns the context of repression in which the Russian presidential elections were held (voters had no real choice, elections were also held in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, which Paris considers a violation of international law and the United Nations Charter).

Relations between France and Russia have deteriorated significantly in recent months as Paris has increased its support for Ukraine.

Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would not rule out sending the country’s troops to Ukraine, arguing that if Russia broke through Ukraine’s front lines, it would be legitimate to see it as a request for Kyiv’s help.

During the presidential election spectacle in March, Russia announced that V. Putin had won 87 percent of the vote. of votes. No genuine opposition candidate was allowed to run. In order to stay in power, a few years ago V. Putin rewrote the Russian constitution. After his current term ends in 2030, the constitution allows Mr. Putin to run for another term and rule until 2036, when he will be 83.

Traditionally in Russia, the government resigns after the inauguration of the president so that the head of state can form a new cabinet. According to information from the Duma, Russia’s parliament, lawmakers could approve the appointments of new ministers by May 15.

Political commentators are waiting to see if 74-year-old Sergey Lavrov, who has held this position for 20 years, will be reappointed as foreign minister. There is also speculation about the future of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, whose chief deputy Timur Ivanov was recently arrested and charged with corruption.

Putin’s inauguration will be broadcast live on most of Russia’s main television channels from around midday, when a luxury motorcade will bring him to Moscow’s Grand Kremlin Palace. Upon arrival, he will walk through the corridors of the palace to the ornate St. Andrew’s Hall, where he will take the presidential oath and briefly address the Russians.

The inauguration will take place two days before Victory Day, which is celebrated in Russia on May 9 and has acquired a new symbolic meaning, with Putin comparing the attack in Ukraine to Russia’s fight against Nazi Germany in World War II. Before both events, the authorities erected barricades throughout the city center of Moscow.

Putin begins his six-year term with more power than ever, buoyed by progress on the battlefield in Ukraine and sustained economic growth despite Western sanctions. On the domestic front, last June he experienced the rebellion of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the mercenary group “Wagner”, who later died in a plane crash, and in February, his main political rival Alexei Navalny died in prison. His apparent election victory in March means he is likely to become Russia’s longest-serving ruler in a century, surpassing Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.