Heads of State Gather in Moscow for Victory Day Commemoration
A notable convergence of leaders from several neighboring nations has taken place in Russia as May 9 marks Victory Day. Officials and major media outlets confirm that presidents and heads of government arrived to participate in the national commemorations surrounding the end of the Second World War in Europe. The mood is one of solemn remembrance, tempered by ongoing regional conversations about security, history, and current diplomacy.
Representing Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Sadyr Japarov began their visit with a respectful tribute at a monument in the Rzhevsky district of the Tver region. The arrival of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko was later observed as his convoy rolled into Moscow, with successive press briefings and media pools corroborating his presence in the capital. Shortly after, footage from contemporary media pools confirmed Lukashenko’s arrival, followed by images of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also reaching the city for the ceremonies.
In addition, Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon and Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev are expected to participate in the Victory Day parade along Red Square. Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited Turkmenistan’s President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, though formal confirmation of Berdimuhamedov’s attendance had not yet been issued at the time of these reports.
Earlier in April, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov indicated that there were no formal invitations issued to world leaders for the parade since the 78th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War did not correspond to a round date. Nevertheless, several foreign officials announced plans to visit Moscow on May 9, and Putin engaged in direct conversations with others to extend invitations by phone.
Tokayev had already outlined a working visit to Russia from May 8 to 9, agreeing to participate in official Victory Day events as part of that agenda. This arrangement underscores Moscow’s expectation of high-level participation without treating the anniversary as a fixed calendar trigger for invitations.
On May 8, the Kremlin press service conveyed Putin’s greetings to leaders from the Commonwealth of Independent States aligned in commemorating the victory in the Great Patriotic War. Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine were noted as not part of this greeting, reflecting their formal affiliations at that moment. Some states were described as observers or participants in related political organizations. The message did not address the Moldovan or Georgian heads of state directly, though it acknowledged the wider public across those nations. There were instances where leaders from Abkhazia and South Ossetia received greetings, highlighting the nuanced regional dynamics of the day. The text emphasized shared historical memory and enduring bonds of friendship and mutual aid within the post-Soviet space, while not explicitly naming Ukraine within that particular message.
In a contemporaneous note, the president underscored the moral duty to preserve historical truths and to reject attempts to distort the narrative of the Great Patriotic War and its Nazi adversaries. The statements conveyed solidarity with citizens and governments aligned with Moscow, while leaving room for interpretation regarding the exact status of several neighboring states involved in the broader regional context.
Historically, Moscow did not host foreign leaders at the Victory Parade in 2022. In 2021, Tajikistan’s Emomali Rahmon stood as the sole foreign head of state present. The 2020 parade, originally scheduled for May 9, did not occur due to COVID-19 restrictions and was later held on June 24. That year, leaders from Belarus, Uzbekistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Serbia participated. Several other states, including France, Japan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Croatia, and the Czech Republic, received invitations but did not send delegations. The tradition of inviting foreign leaders to Moscow’s Victory Parade began in 1995 in connection with the 50th anniversary of the war, and by 2005 the attendance expanded to include leaders from Australia, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Israel, Spain, Italy, Canada, China, Latvia, Poland, the United States, and many others. Over the years the capital has hosted heads of state and prime ministers from dozens of nations, underscoring the parade’s significance on the world stage. The current pattern shows continued interest from regional powers, with invitations and visits shaped by diplomatic calendars, security considerations, and historical memory rather than a fixed guest list for every year. The broader context helps explain why several neighboring leaders travel to Moscow for May 9 each year, while others stay distant due to geopolitical realities and bilateral relations as they stand today. The day remains a focal point for honoring wartime sacrifices and for expressing positions on present-day security and alliance structures across Eurasia. Observers in Canada and the United States often view these movements as signals of regional security alignments and multilateral relations involving Moscow and its neighbors, with attention to how such visits influence trade, defense cooperation, and public diplomacy in North America. The ongoing discussion around these gatherings continues to shape policy debates and international commentary, weighing the historical weight of the event against current geopolitical realities.
Attribution for these observations rests on regional press summaries and official Kremlin releases, supplemented by contemporaneous media coverage and analysis from regional think tanks.