THE United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and most European Union member countries (21 out of 27) boycotted the inauguration of President Vladimir Putin to underline their view that his election as leader of Russia for the fifth time was a sham. This meant that even their ambassadors accredited to Moscow did not attend the inauguration upon explicit instructions from home. Those envoys would normally be invited to such events and attend.
But it is doubtful whether the absence of 30 ambassadors would have been noticed or missed. Moscow has a huge diplomatic corps. It must have nearly as many members as the United Nations, of more than 150. Nearly all of them must have attended. Putin can claim as he did that the majority of the world recognized his gaining the leadership of his country.
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