China sends only embassy officials to Moscow May 9 parade as guest list thins

China will not send a state delegation to Russia’s May 9 Victory Day parade in Moscow this year, leaving its representation to embassy staff in a downgrade from last year, when Chinese troops marched on Red Square and President Xi Jinping stood alongside Vladimir Putin.

The decision, confirmed by foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Thursday, came as the Kremlin’s published guest list excluded all five Central Asian presidents, several of whom confirmed attendance only on the eve of the parade. Red Square will reportedly go without tanks, armoured vehicles or missile systems for the first time in nearly two decades, a reduction the Russian defence ministry attributed to the “current operational situation”.

“Representatives of the Chinese embassy in Russia will certainly be present,” Lin told reporters in Beijing, declining to elaborate on why no minister would travel.

Last year’s parade marked the 80th anniversary of victory in the Second World War and featured what Russian state media called the largest Victory Day display since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Chinese troops marched in formation, and Xi watched from the reviewing stand. The 81st anniversary this year is being staged on a notably smaller scale.

Who is going

Confirmed attendees include Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, and the leaders of Malaysia and Laos, according to United24 Media. Fico has said he will visit Moscow but will not stand on the parade ground itself. Unrecognised regional figures from Abkhazia and South Ossetia have also said they will attend.

Kazakhstan’s Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Uzbekistan’s Shavkat Mirziyoyev were absent from the Kremlin’s initial guest list. Their attendance was reported only on May 8 by media in both countries, in confirmations a Times of Central Asia analysis called characteristic of capitals reluctant to commit publicly. The Belarusian and Russian state outlets had carried Lukashenka’s confirmation a week earlier.

In 2025 every Central Asian head of state showed up. This year nobody has heard from Tajikistan’s Emomali Rahmon, Kyrgyzstan’s Sadyr Japarov or Turkmenistan’s Serdar Berdimuhamedow.

Why China stepped back

Beijing said nothing about why no minister would travel. The timing is awkward. Trump is due in Beijing in two weeks with chief executives from Apple, Nvidia and Exxon. The US fired on two more Iranian tankers in the Strait of Hormuz the day before Lin’s briefing. And US tariff pressure on Chinese exports widened in March, leaving Chinese officials more reluctant to be photographed alongside Putin.

The two leaders saw each other in Beijing in March and again at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in April. A Western diplomat in Beijing, speaking to United24 Media on condition of anonymity, said the May 9 call was about keeping “optics manageable” before the Trump trip and the Geneva trade round. The embassy will still place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the diplomat added.

A smaller parade

No tanks, no armoured vehicles, no missile systems on Red Square this year. The Russian defence ministry confirmed the change. The Kremlin pointed to Ukrainian “terrorist activity” and drone attacks reported on Moscow in the days before May 9. Zelensky used a press briefing earlier in the week to warn foreign delegations off the trip. “We do not recommend it,” he said.

Russian state television has leaned on archive footage of veterans rather than the usual armour columns. The visual contrast with 2025 is hard to miss: Xi in the reviewing stand, Chinese troops marching, Putin shaking hands. None of that this year.

What it signals

The Iran ceasefire is fraying. Oil sits above $100. The Ukraine track has stalled. Geneva opens on May 12. Tashkent hosts the SCO summit in September, where Putin and Xi will again share a podium.