http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/07/putin-snub-west-war-celebrations
Putin snubs Charles and Biden
LUKE HARDING, MOSCOW
May 9, 2010
VLADIMIR Putin has snubbed the Prince of Wales and US Vice-President Joe Biden
by forbidding their attendance at a parade in Red Square marking 65 years since
the end of World War II.
Russia invited British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other heads of state to
attend today's celebrations - the biggest ever. But with Mr Brown unable to
attend because of the election, the Foreign Office suggested Prince Charles
instead.
However, the prince was quietly stood down after Mr Putin made it clear that he
did not want him there, apparently in a sign of his annoyance with the Britain
over its failure to extradite Boris Berezovsky, the Kremlin critic and former
oligarch, to Russia.
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Mr Putin, Russia's Prime Minister, also snubbed Mr Biden, who had planned to go
to Moscow and has been left cooling his heels in Brussels. Mr Biden is close to
Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's President. During the 2008 Russia-Georgia war Mr
Putin famously threatened Mr Saakashvili, pledging to ''hang him by the balls''.
The White House is privately furious at the snub.
President Barack Obama told Russia's President, Dmitry Medvedev, he was unable
to attend but had confidently offered Mr Biden as his replacement.
Pavel Felgenhaur, a defence analyst and columnist with the opposition Novaya
Gazeta newspaper, said that Mr Putin had personally decided to kick Prince
Charles off the list. ''It was entirely his decision,'' he said. Other sources
have confirmed the story.
For the first time, troops from Britain, France and the US - the Soviet Union's
wartime allies - are taking part in the victory parade, marching alongside
10,500 Russian soldiers.
More than 25 foreign leaders will attend, including France's President Nicolas
Sarkozy and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.
British-Russian relations have improved since the 2006 murder of Alexander
Litvinenko and Britain's subsequent expulsion of Russian diplomats.
Kremlin politicians yesterday expressed a preference for a Conservative or
Conservative-led administration in London.
''I think the Conservatives will not escape a review of relations with
Russia,'' said Gleb Pavlovsky, an analyst connected to the Kremlin. ''And the
review as such will lead to healthier relations between Britain and Russia.''
Mr Pavlovsky said that Labour had ''aggravated'' ties with Russia.
GUARDIAN
http://www.theage.com.au/world/putin-snubs-charles-and-biden-20100508-ul02.html
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