The French president has invited the newly-elected Ukrainian leader to attend June 6 ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of D-Day.
President Francois Hollande spoke by phone today with Petro Poroshenko, congratulating him for his first-round victory in Ukraine's election Sunday and saying it "opens the way to a peaceful and political way out of the crisis."
Hollande invited Poroshenko to ceremonies in Normandy marking the D-Day Allied landings there that ultimately spelled the end of Hitler's Atlantic Wall.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will be among leaders present at the ceremonies, as will US President Barack Obama. Russian annexed Crimea, in eastern Ukraine, in March, triggering the worst crisis in East-West relations since the Cold War.
It wasn't immediately known if Poroshenko would accept Hollande's invitation.
