Putin Investigated Today, in a Ceremony Boycotted by the US and the EU. France Sent its Ambassador: “Not A

The swearing-in, scheduled for 12:00 p.m. Romanian time, takes place a month and a half after the presidential elections, after which Putin achieved a major victory, according to the results announced by Moscow. The vote was categorized as unfair and undemocratic by Western governments.

Despite Kiev’s calls not to be represented in Moscow, Western powers have responded differently about their presence at Putin’s inauguration.

According to a European diplomat, 20 EU member states will boycott the event. Instead seven countries are expected to have representatives at the ceremony.

“France will be represented by its ambassador in Russia,” said a diplomatic source from Paris.

It is also expected that Hungary and Slovakia will participate in the event, according to other diplomatic sources.

“We are not at war with Russia or the Russian people and we have no desire for regime change in Moscow,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday, in the presence of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who is visiting France.

Paris condemned the context of repression in which the elections took place in Russia, as well as the fact that the polls were organized including in the Ukrainian regions occupied by Moscow’s forces, the diplomatic source quoted by Reuters also states.

Vladimir Putin’s inauguration comes as Emmanuel Macron said last week that if Russia breaks through the Ukrainian front lines, it would be legitimate to consider sending Western troops into Ukraine if that would be requested by Kiev.

In response, Russia announced the organization of a military exercise for the use of strategic nuclear weapons.

The ceremony in Moscow, boycotted by most Western countries

The EU ambassador to Russia will not be present at the swearing-in, a spokesman announced.

The Baltic states are among the EU bloc countries that have firmly ruled out participating in Vladimir Putin’s inauguration.

“We believe that the isolation of Russia, and especially of its criminal leader, must continue,” said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.

Neither Great Britain, the United States nor Canada will be represented at the event.

“No, we will not have a representative at his inauguration. I certainly did not think that those elections were free and fair, but he is the president of Russia and will continue in that capacity,” announced Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the US State Department.

An official from the Kremlin specified that the heads of all foreign diplomatic missions in Moscow were invited to the investiture ceremony, notes the Russian state news agency Interfax.

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