This was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There are still divisions within European countries. France would send a delegation, but Germany would not.
Disagreements in relations with Russia
The differing reactions from different countries underline the differences over how to deal with the Russian leader, more so two years after he launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“No, we will not have a representative at his inauguration,” said Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State. “We did not consider the elections to be free and fair, but he is the president of Russia and he will continue in that capacity.”
Putin won a landslide victory in March’s presidential election, just weeks after his most prominent opponent, Alexei Navalny, died under suspicious circumstances in a penal colony in Siberia.
Swearing-in ceremony is ‘illusion’
Western governments condemned the re-election as unfair and undemocratic. Today’s swearing-in ceremony is said to be aimed at “creating the illusion of legality” of Putin’s long rule.
According to a European diplomat, twenty EU member states would boycott the event, and seven others are expected to send a representative.
Tags: Netherlands boycotts inauguration Russian President Putin
