US officials did not take part in the traditional annual events to honor the historical meeting of the Soviet and US troops at the Elbe River in Germany in 1945 and cancelled the ceremony in Washington, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea and Crimean Permanent Representative to the Russian President, Georgiy Muradov, said.
"Unfortunately, representatives of the US embassy in Moscow did not take part in our events in Moscow. The ceremony at the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington was simply forbidden by the US side," Muradov said during the online event in honor of the 77th anniversary of the historical meeting between the US and Soviet troops.
In completing the defeat of Nazi Germany, Soviet and US troops met at the Elbe River on April 25, 1945, a date considered to be the highest point in relations among the Allies fighting the Axis coalition.
Muradov regrets that some US authorities have decided to ignore the historical memory of that event, noting that the West is now flirting with Nazism just as it did just before World War II.
"It seems that the consequences and results of such flirting have not taught anything the politicians in the United States and Europe," he said.
Edward Lozansky, a member of the organizing committee of the "Spirit of the Elbe" commemorative event, recalled that he told Sputnik in April of 2020 that US and Russian Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin issued a joint declaration saying the event is an example of how the two countries can put aside differences, build trust and cooperate in pursuit of a greater cause.
"These words are even more important today when the world is on the brink of World War III. Therefore, on the eve of the 77th anniversary of Elbe Day, why not recall this statement and make an attempt to avoid this disaster by giving a chance to diplomacy instead of adding fuel to the fire?" Lozansky said.
Joseph Wolff, son of US participant Joseph Polowsky, recalled that the Spirit of the Elbe event marked the end of the Third Reich and the destruction of Adolf Hitler’s evil empire.
"At this moment, the Russian Federation has an ongoing special operation underway in Ukraine. Whatever the rationale for that decision, I strongly believe that the contributions of everyone in a defeat of Hitler evil empire need to be acknowledged and credited," Wolff said.
On Sunday, Russian Ambassador in Washington Anatoly Antonov announced that the US authorities had canceled the annual ceremony held at the Spirit of the Elbe war memorial at the Arlington National Cemetery. Russian diplomats, their colleagues from the Commonwealth of Independent States, World War II veterans and US officials participated in the ceremony in previous years.
