Cameron, Putin to discuss Ukraine situation at D-Day commemorations

British Prime Minister David Cameron is set to have a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in France to discuss the Ukraine situation, a Downing Street spokesperson said Monday.

The meeting is scheduled to be held on the sidelines of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day Normandy landings in WWII in France, where world leaders will gather on Friday to mark the historic event.

It’s an important opportunity “to set out the importance of a dialogue between the Russian government and the new Ukrainian government following the presidential elections,” the Downing Street spokesperson said.

Britain-Russia relations have been further strained since Britain’s Prince Charles triggered a diplomatic row between the two countries by comparing Putin to Nazi Germany’s leader Adolf Hitler last month.

Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko has also been invited to attend the D-Day commemorations, but no formal meeting between Putin and Poroshenko has been confirmed yet.

On Monday, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Ukraine said that Poroshenko had won the Ukrainian presidential election in the first round and officially declared him president-elect.

He is expected to be sworn in as the new Ukrainian president on Saturday at an inauguration ceremony in central Kiev.