(Normandy) – World leaders and veterans gathered by the beaches of Normandy to mark the 70th anniversary of World War Two’s D-Day landings, with host France hoping the event will help bring a thaw in the Ukraine crisis.
Wreaths, parades, parachute-landings and fireworks will be staged in honor of history’s largest amphibious assault on June 6, 1944, when 160,000 U.S., British and Canadian troops waded ashore to confront Germany’s forces, hastening its defeat.
French President Francois Hollande will be joined at the commemorations by 20 foreign leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister David Cameron, Canada’s Stephen Harper, Germany’s Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin of Russia.