Tusk not going to Moscow on May 9

"I received an invitation, but I am not going to Moscow on May 9 to commemorate the end of the WW2," said the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk in his interview for Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

"My presence at the military parade side by side with the present aggressors and a person who has been using arms against civilians in eastern Ukraine would be for me, to say the least, too ambiguous," Tusk added.

President Bronisław Komorowski, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Prime Minister of the UK, David Cameron also declined the invitation.

Donald Tusk also said in a joint interview with major European newspapers that sanctions against Russia must be maintained.

"I'm skeptical about the goodwill of the Russians and I'm convinced that what's needed is to maintain pressure, not discuss details," he was quoted as saying by Italian daily La Stampa.