Russian President Vladmir Putin will not attend a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Ekho Moskvy radio that the president had not received an invitation.

Putin did attend the 60th anniversary memorial in 2005, and his decision shows just how the deep the chill is in relations with the West, as the camp was liberated by Soviet troops and some 1.5 million victims of Auschwitz were Russian Jews or prisoners of war.

Auschwitz museum director Piotr Cywinski told the Associated Press that no specific invitations were sent, but rather embassies of EU nations and governments of donor countries, which include Russia, were given a notice that the ceremony would take place on January 27. Cywinski said that French President Francois Hollande and his German counterpart Joachim Gauck will be among the guests, as well as ambassadors and members of European royalty.

Peskov acknowledged in the radio interview that the Kremlin was aware no direct invitations were sent, but dodged questions about Putin's specific reasons for skipping the ceremony, and simply cited the president's busy schedule.

Russia demands an explanation from France

Moscow further showed its frustration with the West on Tuesday by demanding an official explanation from Paris as to why a Mistral class warship that is mostly paid for has not been delivered.

Russia wrote to France's overseas arms exporter, a move which could pave the way for legal claims against the French government, who delayed the autumn 2014 delivery "until further notice," due to concerns about Moscow's role in the rebel uprising in Ukraine.

"In order to determine our future decisions - whether we will go to court or give France more time, Russia must have a written explanation of the situations," a military source told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

Sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union and the United States have complicated France's commitment to the 1.2 billion euro deal to deliver two warships, even though the order was made long before the crisis in Ukraine erupted. Strictly speaking, the current EU sanctions against Moscow only forbid future arms deals, but France said it would delay the delivery anyway in light of developments in Ukraine.

Increased military exercises on both sides

Despite being without the two new helicopter carriers, the head of the armed forces' general staff has announced plans to strengthen Russia's military presence this year in Crimea, the Arctic, and its European exclave Kaliningrad, according to RIA. Putin signed a new military doctrine in December, underlining the need to protect Russian interests in the Arctic and identifying NATO expansion as an external risk to Russia.

NATO, for its part, also pledged to beef up its military exercises in the Baltic region of eastern Europe. The organization's top military commander, General Philip Breedlove, said on Tuesday that the decision is in response to a surge in Russian maneuvers in the area.

According to Reuters news agency, Breedlove also said Russia continues to provide aid to separatists in Ukraine, clouding prospects for peace talks. High-level peace talks in Kazakhstan were recently called off as preliminary discussions had yielded no progress.

es/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters)