U.S. President Donald Trump’s attendance of the celebratory events timed to the 75th anniversary of victory in the Second World War in Moscow depends on his schedule, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a session of the Russian Federation Council.
He noted that Trump has received the invitation by Russian President Vladimir Putin to take part in the celebrations.
"President Trump has stressed the importance of this date many times, namely during my visit to Washington. He has expressed interest in taking part in the events if his schedule allows it," TASS cited the Russian foreign minister as saying.
The President of the National Strategy Institute, Mikhail Remizov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that Trump may well attend the celebratory events on May 9 in Moscow, if it will be beneficial to him in terms of his new election campaign.
"In this regard, Trump's visit to Moscow seems possible. In addition, the 75th anniversary of the victory of in the Great Patriotic War is a good occasion to respond to critics from a position of respect for historical memory," he said.
At the same time, the leaders of Western countries dependent on the U.S. will be guided by Donald Trump's choice. "I think the Western allies of the United States will rather be guided by whether he will come to Moscow or not than the other way around," Mikhail Remizov added.
According to the senior research fellow at the European Research Centre of the International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Olenchenko, Trump's visit to Moscow depends on the internal political situation in the United States. "Of course, Trump has a desire to develop bilateral relations with Putin. At the same time, he is dependent on the American political traditions, on the protracted confrontation between Democrats and Republicans, and on the election cycle, which will begin in January. These factors of Trump’s dependence on U.S. political life will have a strong influence on his decision," he explained.
"Of course, he will make a choice regardless of other Western leaders' decisions. Rather, he will be influenced by the opportunity to meet with the Chinese leader and the North Korean leader in Russia. This would be more important for him than, for example, Emmanuel Macron's visit to Moscow," Vladimir Olenchenko concluded.
