US tells world to stay home and ignore Russia's WW2 victory celebrations

US Advises World Leaders Not to Attend V-Day Parade in Moscow

Washington urged world leaders to “consider what is happening in Ukraine” before they agreed to attend the May 9 Victory Day parade in Moscow, the State Department’s acting spokeswoman Marie Harf admitted during a news briefing in Washington on Thursday.

When asked whether Washington had advised leaders of other countries not to attend the Moscow event Marie Harf said there were a variety of ways that the world would honor Victory in Europe Day, including on May 8 in Washington, and that each country had decided for itself whether to go to Moscow or not.

But after one of the attending reporters mentioned the 25 million people the Soviet Union lost during WW2, Marie Harf said, “this is something we feel very deeply about. But for this military parade specifically, which is one – one event - we took into account what was happening in Ukraine and we are encouraging other countries to take the same thing into account.”

“They can make their own decisions about who they send, and it’s not up to us to make – to pass judgment on that. It’s their decision. We’re just making clear what our position is and that we hope they would consider the same,” Marie Harf added.

She had earlier said that at the military parade specifically in Moscow on May 9, the United States would be represented by Ambassador John Tefft.

Editor's Commentary:
It isn't just the 25 million Russians/Soviets [and readily available evidence indicates the number is closer to 50 million] who died in World War 2 that should attract some measure of deference. It seems everyone - especially the US - forgets that the USSR was an ALLY during WW2. The current portrayal of the USSR and its successor, the Russian Federation, as eternal enemies is preposterous nonsense and intended only for US domestic consumption.

The US and Europe seem all to eager to forget the terrible price paid by the USSR for a war they did not start but that showed up on their doorstep anyway. And to ignore that the war would have had a very different outcome without the sacrifices of the USSR. Yes, yes, Stalin was not a nice man - but that isn't the point here.

May we suggest the next time September 11 rolls around, the world should ignore it and tell the US to get over it and stop whining.

- prh, ed.

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