The ambassadors of the Russian Federation and Belarus were not invited to the commemorative event on May 8 in Berlin.

The ambassadors of Russia and Belarus were not invited to a solemn event in the German Bundestag on May 8 in memory of the end of World War II. This was announced on April 16 by the press service of the Bundestag administration.

"Representatives of the diplomatic corps have been invited to the commemorative event of the German Bundestag on May 8. At the same time, as usual, the assessment of the federal government regarding the invitation of representatives was taken into account. This assessment led to the fact that, in particular, the ambassadors of the Russian Federation and Belarus were not invited," the press service said, as quoted by RIA Novosti.

It is clarified that they deliberately decided to abandon a broader international presence, and foreign guests were not invited to the event.

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Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on April 9 that the German Foreign Ministry had explicitly recommended that federal, regional and local organizations expel Russian officials from events dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the victory. According to her, earlier the German authorities suggested simply not inviting Russian representatives to memorial events.