MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2020) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed to The Times of Israel newspaper that he would be visiting Israel this week to attend the World Holocaust Forum scheduled for Thursday in Jerusalem, adding that he was "not invited to speak."
"The most important thing for each country is to honor the memory of its Holocaust victims. It's very important to go, whether we [leaders] speak or not. For me personally, it doesn't matter whether I speak. But so many people who died in this tragedy [of the Holocaust] were Ukrainian Jews ... That is why, for Ukrainians, it is very important to honor the victims of the Holocaust. I think it would be fair, therefore, that the president of Ukraine would give a speech. I know the Israeli side has a different format; we were not invited to speak. But in any case, I will attend this ceremony," Zelenskyy said in an interview with the newspaper.
The Fifth World Holocaust Forum, organized by the World Holocaust Forum Foundation to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, will be attended by at least 46 heads of states, members of royalty and prime ministers. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, Prince of Wales Charles, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier are expected to address the gathering.
