MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had not received an invitation to attend commemorative events in Poland timed to the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army.
"No, Vladimir Putin was not invited," the Kremlin spokesman told reporters. He reminded that the Russian ambassador to Poland would represent the country at the events.
On January 27, commemorative events will be held on the territory of former concentration camp. According to the organizers of the event, representatives of 54 countries will come to Auschwitz, including several presidents, prime ministers, members of parliament, representatives of international organizations, members of the clergy and about 200 former prisoners of the camp. Russian Ambassador to Poland Sergei Andreev will represent Russia at the event.
The Polish government chose not to send an official invitation to the commemorative events to the Russian government. For its part, the Auschwitz Memorial explained that it did not send invitations to the event, only informing all states about the upcoming event and asking every state to choose who would represent it at the event.
Last week, Putin visited Israel to attend the events timed to the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is also celebrated on January 27.
