Putin rejected for Queen’s funeral over Ukraine war ‘deeply immoral’

• A Russian official said Britain’s decision not to invite Russia to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral was “deeply immoral”.
• Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said British officials were citing the war in Ukraine.
• A British official told CNN that representatives from Belarus and Myanmar would also not be invited.

A Russian official said it was “deeply immoral” that Britain rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin – and any Russian representation – from invitations to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral next week over the war in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement that the British Foreign Office informed the Russian Embassy in London that it would “refrain from sending invitations to the Russian party, including to the leadership of the Russian Embassy , for the funeral events on the death. of Queen Elizabeth II.”

“The British cited the ongoing Russian special military operation in Ukraine as a pretext for this move,” Zakharova continued in the statement.

The Queen died on September 8 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, ending her unprecedented 70-year reign as head of the British monarchy. She was 96. The funeral will be held on Monday September 19 at London’s Westminster Abbey in front of family members, heads of state and world leaders – Putin excluded.

A British official told CNN that representatives from Belarus and Myanmar would also not be invited. Earlier this week, the Kremlin said the Russian president never actually intended to attend the funeral, responding to initial reports that he was not invited.

“We consider this British attempt to use a national tragedy that has touched the hearts of millions of people around the world for geopolitical purposes to settle our country in days of mourning as deeply immoral,” Zakharova said in the statement, adding. the dude was “blasphemous to the memory of Elizabeth II.”

After the queen’s death last week, Putin sent a telegram to King Charles III expressing his condolences on his mother’s passing and wishing him “courage and endurance in the face of this heavy, irreparable loss”.

He wrote: “For many decades Elizabeth II rightfully enjoyed the love and respect of her subjects, as well as authority on the world stage.”