Trump may attend Russia’s Victory Day parade next May
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said that he was considering attending Russia’s Victory Day military parade in May 2020, although he was unsure of his participation due to its timing.
“It is in the middle of our campaign season, but I will certainly think about it,” Xinhua news agency quoted Trump as saying to the media on Friday.
Trump, who has yet to visit Russia as US President, said he appreciated his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s invitation, saying it was “a very big deal celebrating the end of the war”.
“It is in the middle of the political season, so I will see if I can do it, but I would love to go if I could,” he added.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in June that Putin had invited Trump to attend the Victory Day commemorative events in Moscow.
The 2020 events will mark the 75th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
Former US Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush attended the Red Square parade in 1995 and 2005 respectively, while Barack Obama declined to show up for the 70th anniversary in 2015 due to Moscow’s annexation of Crimea.