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Victory in WW2 must facilitate dialogue with Russia, says French senator

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov informed that the French side’s invitation to the Normandy memorable events did not initially imply an official delegation from Moscow for the events

PARIS, June 6. /TASS/. French senator Gerard Longuet has expressed his regret over Russia not being invited to attend the events timed to the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landings in 1944 (also known as D-Day), adding that a mutual victory in the Second World War must unite the victor countries, and not exacerbate their disagreements, a statement published by the French Senate informs.

"Gerard Longuet… welcomes the celebrations of the anniversary [of the Normandy landings] on June 6, 1944, expressing his regret over the fact that Russia has not been associated as closely with this event, despite the big role that the USSR played in the victory over Nazism," the statement quotes the senator as saying. "Today, this common victory with Russia must be a factor for dialogue, not a source of discord," he added. The French senator noted that millions of USSR citizens died in the fight against Nazism, and it is necessary "to honor this sacrifice that facilitated the success of Allied operations in Western Europe."

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov informed that the French side’s invitation to the memorable events dedicated to the anniversary of the Normandy landings did not initially imply an official delegation from Moscow for these events.

"The invitation did not imply by its form and contents the study of an issue of sending an official delegation from Moscow," the foreign minister said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier said that he did not care about not being invited to the festivities marking the anniversary of the D-Day landings.

"This doesn’t matter," Putin said when asked whether he was concerned about not receiving an invitation. "The other thing is of importance - the truth about history and about the awful tragedy that befell mankind during WWII," Putin said on Thursday as he met with the heads of global news agencies. "We don’t invite everybody either, not to every event.".