Moscow: Several World leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping with his wife Peng Liyuan have arrived in Moscow to join the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of victory in World War 2.
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe will also join the celebrations as Moscow prepares to show off its mighty military strength at a large May 9 Victory parade.
The 91-year-old Zimbabwean president, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, was re-elected for another 5-year term in 2013.
Also attending the celebrations; South African President Jacob Zuma; Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro
This year’s parade is marred with the shadow of worsening relations between Russia and the West, with many Western leaders not attending the celebrations in Moscow. The Western boycott is intended to show displeasure over President Vladimir Putin’s support for pro-Russian separatists fighting government forces in east Ukraine.
The guest list for the military parade has come to embody Russia’s place in the world as it struggles to avoid being isolated over the events in east Ukraine.
Ventuno