An American guest on Red Square: The Kremlin is preparing a “surprise” for the parade
1 May 2025 19:15
Russian propaganda outlets have claimed that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio may allegedly come to Moscow for the May 9 parade. This was reported by the Zvezda TV channel, controlled by the Russian Defense Ministry, citing an anonymous source in diplomatic circles. According to the TV channel, it is the head of the U.S. State Department who is expected to attend.
The American side has not officially confirmed the participation of any of its representatives in the event on Red Square. At the same time, the Kremlin had earlier said that President Donald Trump had no plans to visit Moscow on May 9.
In an exclusive commentary for Kommersant Ukrainian, military expert Ivan Stupak suggested that Rubio is not the only possible candidate for the trip.
“For some reason, besides Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff comes to mind. Why not? He has already met with Putin four times in this short time. Not every regional leader has the opportunity to meet with Putin that often,”
– Stupak said.
According to him, the visit of the American representative to Moscow may have side effects for Ukraine.
“I assume that maybe he can really be the candidate who will go from the United States to the Russian Federation for this parade. This really automatically affects Ukraine as well. After all, Ukraine will definitely not be able to attack even the outskirts of Moscow on the day of this “victory” because the American representative is there. We don’t want to quarrel with Mr. Trump’s administration,”
– explained Ivan Stupak.
Let me remind you that in January 2025, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said that guests from 19 countries considered “friendly” to Russia were invited to the May 9 parade. Ten of them have allegedly already confirmed their participation, but the list of these countries has not yet been made public.
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Who the Kremlin is waiting for at the May 9 parade
The list includes dictators, leaders of CIS countries and Putin’s allies.
For this year’s celebration of the so-called Victory Day in Moscow, the Kremlin plans to receive guests from more than a dozen countries, mostly authoritarian regimes and post-Soviet states that remain loyal to Russia. This was reported by Russian and international media, citing official sources.
The presidents of Belarus – Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakhstan – Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstan – Sadyr Zhaparov, Uzbekistan – Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Tajikistan – Emomali Rakhmon, Turkmenistan – Serdar Berdymukhamedov, and Azerbaijan – Ilham Aliyev are expected to take part in the parade. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia and President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia are also planning to attend.
Among those invited are the leaders of the unrecognized entities: self-proclaimed Abkhazia – Badra Gunbo, and self-proclaimed South Ossetia – Alan Gagloyev.
They also confirmed their presence at the parade:
– Interim President of Burkina Faso Ibrahim Traore;
– President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva;
– President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro;
– Chairman of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas;
– President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel;
– Milorad Dodik, the leader of Republika Srpska as part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Particularly noteworthy is the confirmation of Chinese leader Xi Jinping ‘s participation, which may indicate Beijing’s demonstrative support for Moscow amid Russia’s international isolation.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico is also planning to participate in the parade, which has caused outrage in the European Union. Brussels publicly called on the leaders of the countries not to participate in the parade and instead express solidarity with Ukraine.
The issue of Serbia’s participation was particularly acute. As a candidate country for EU membership, it received clear signals from European institutions that a visit to Moscow could jeopardize its European integration prospects. According to media reports, President Vucic’s participation in the military parade could lead to the blocking of negotiations on Serbia’s accession to the European Union.
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