Lithuania’s ambassador pays tribute to WWII victims in Moscow, but skips military parade

Motuzas laid a wreath of flowers with the Lithuanian national flag at the Eternal Flame and stood in a minute of silence, the embassy said.

“The head of the embassy believes that by visiting and paying tribute to the victims of the war that was devastating to all of mankind, we express solidarity and lower our heads before the Russian nation that was badly affected by the war,” reads the embassy’s press release.

After paying tribute on Sunday, the ambassador is skipping the military parade scheduled to take place in Moscow on Monday to mark the Russian victory in World War Two.

“The ambassador of Lithuania to Russia is the only diplomat of European Union (EU) countries who will not observe the military parade held in the Red Square of the Russian capital on May 9, as Lithuania marks the end of World War Two on May 8, not May 9, as the case was during the Soviet rule,” the embassy said.

Lithuania’s diplomats turned down invitation to the May 9 parade in the Red Square each year since 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine.

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