Showing the vindictive side of U.S. diplomacy, the U.S. and its Western allies, including Britain, France and Germany, boycotted Russia’s “V-Day” celebration, marking the 70th anniversary of defeating of Nazi Germany. Instead of shelving differences to pay respects to unthinkable sacrifices paid to end Adolf Hitler’s reign of terror, the West opted to boycott the historical event to protest the March 1, 2014 Russian invasion of Crimea. Russia didn’t boycott U.S. events after Sept. 11, 2001 or the March 20, 2003 Iraq War, despite vehement objections to U.S. foreign policy. Boycotting Putin’s Red Square commemoration shows how petty things can get when it comes to the pomp-and-circumstance of major historical events like the Nazi defeat in WWII. Putin’s speech obliquely referenced the U.S. attempt to dominate world events since the Dec. 26, 1991 end of the Soviet Union.
Meeting to celebrate the allied victory over the Nazis in WWII, Secretary of State John Kerry and French President Francois Hollande laid a wreath at the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysees in Paris May 8 to mark the event. Refusing to go to Moscow slaps Russians in the face, who, by anyone’s metric, lost more lives and property in WWII—some estimates at 28 million casualties and $5 trillion losses. When you consider 550,000 French and 420,000 Americans lost their lives in WWII, it pales in comparison to Russia. “The victory of May 8th wasn’t the supremacy, the domination, of one nation over another. It was the victory of an ideal over totalitarian ideology,” said Hollande, completely ignoring Germany’s attempt to conquer Europe and beyond. Hollande knows the German-controlled Vichy government that enslaved France for five years during WWII.
Regardless of difference with the Kremlin over Ukraine, President Barack Obama should have had Kerry bite his tongue and attend Putin’s “V-Day” event. Without the Russians battling Germany on the Eastern Front, the allies would have made slower progress has Hitler amassed all his military assets in the West. With Germany’s Angela Merkel set to visit the Kremlin May 10, Putin didn’t waste any time making deals with China’s Xi Jinping on energy and trade. Xi signed 32 contracts with Putin worth over $6 billion in trade to build a high-speed railway link between Russia and China to improve trade relations. “It means reaching a new level of partnership that envisages common economic space on the entire Eurasian continent,” Putin said, agreeing to coordinate closely with the Eurasian Economic Union, comprising Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
Russia’s “V-Day” celebration involved thousands of Russian citizens that lost property and loved ones in WWII. With so many casualties, practically every Russian family lost someone in the Great War that affected most Russians and Europeans. With the outcome uncertain in Ukraine, attending Putin’s “V-Day” event would have been a time to shelve differences and honor the sacrifice made by all countries to defeat Nazi Germany. When Merkel visits Putin, she’ll bring an olive branch in hand, making it more difficult for her adopt the same harsh sanctions as her Western allies. No one has apologized more post-WWII for Nazi atrocities than Merkel, acutely aware of the damage Germany wreaked on the world. Three-hundred thousand Muscovites marched today to remember the sacrifices made by their forbearers to defend Russia and the world from Nazi repression.
Attending Putin’s “V-Day” event, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi honored Russian sacrifices to save the world from Adolf Hitler. “No one can deny the role that Russia, the Soviet Union, played in the fight of Nazism and history will never forget,” said el-Sisi, acknowledging the debt the world owes Russia for beating back the Nazi war machine. Failing to attend the event, the U.S. and Western allies missed a real opportunity to get beyond the Ukaine debacle and acknowledge what’s important, marking the 70th anniversary of Hitler’s defeat. Showcasing Russia’s new military hardware, 92-year-old Valentina Schulgina recalled fighting the Germans with an semiautomatic pistol and rifle in the Battle of Stalingrad where some 1.2 million Russians lost their lives. Failing to attend today’s “V-Day” event in Moscow did nothing to advance world peace.
U.S. and allied decision to boycott Putin’s “V-Day” commemoration does nothing to deal with geopolitical issues that watched U.S.-Russian relations deteriorate to the dark days of the Cold War. When you consider the U.S., its Western allies and Russia all worked to defeat Nazi Germany, it makes no sense for the U.S. and West to ignore Moscow’s 70th anniversary event. Putin has real differences with the U.S. and European Union over handling the Feb. 22, 2014 pro-Western coup that toppled the Kremlin-backed government of Viktor Yanukovich. Boycotting Putin’s “V-Day” only turns back the clock on U.S.-Russian relations at a time when the world needs more global cooperation.. When Merkel meets Putin tomorrow, she’ll convey her heartfelt sympathies, look to a brighter future and hope for posterity that today’s Germany never again commits history’s most barbaric acts.
