WASHINGTON — Russia issued a testy rebuke of President Bush yesterday on the eve of his departure for Europe, denying that Moscow had forcibly occupied the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in 1940. This restatement of a Soviet view of history provoked a new round of controversy over modern Russia's intentions toward the now-independent states.

The statement came in response to a letter Bush sent to the leader of Latvia. In it, the president acknowledged that the upcoming 60th anniversary of the end of World War II marked a tragic moment for the three tiny nations because during the conflict they were "occupied" by Soviet troops and absorbed into the Soviet Union against their will.

Bush leaves today for Riga, the Latvian capital, before heading to Moscow for the anniversary festivities.

Sergei Yastrzhembsky, the Russian ambassador to the European Union, convened a news conference in Moscow to insist that Soviet forces were invited into the Baltic states by their governments, an assertion that was the official Soviet line for half a century.

"One cannot use the term 'occupation' to describe those historical events," Yastrzhembsky said, according to news accounts. "At that time, the troop deployment took place on an agreed basis and with the clearly expressed agreement of the existing authorities in the Baltic republics."

A statement on the Russian Foreign Ministry Web site elaborated on that view, contending that under international law there was no occupation "because there was no state of war between the USSR and the Baltic states and no military actions were being conducted and the troops were introduced on the basis of an agreement."

In what was known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin sealed a secret agreement with Adolf Hitler of Germany in 1939 to divide Poland and guarantee control over Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Soviet troops moved into the Baltic states the next year, on the pretense of responding to invitations. The states regained their independence in 1991.

In protest of the long Soviet rule, the leaders of Lithuania and Estonia are boycotting the anniversary celebration in Moscow on Monday, while President Vaira Vike-Freiberga of Latvia agreed to go only following Bush's visit. U.S. officials have said they privately tried to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to use the anniversary to renounce the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, but that he refused.

In several interviews with Baltic journalists yesterday, Bush did not use the word "occupation," instead referring to "the form of government imposed upon Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia."

But he said he discussed the matter with Putin during a February meeting in Slovakia and would repeat the message in Moscow on Sunday. "Yes, of course I'll remind him of that," Bush said. "I told him in Slovakia that I felt it was important for him to understand that my friends, the leaders of the Baltics, are upset; in other words, they don't view the end of World War II as a great moment of celebration. And there's a reason why."

Bush will end his trip Tuesday in Tblisi, Georgia, where President Mikhail Saakashvili came to power in January 2004 after leading the peaceful "Rose Revolution" that ousted a pro-Russian regime. Armed with nothing but flowers, Saakashvili and his followers stormed the Georgian parliament and forced the resignation of President Eduard Shevardnadze, a former top Soviet official.

Bush will also stop in the Netherlands for a memorial service at an American cemetery that shelters more than 8,000 American dead from World War II.

Russian experts said Bush's decision to bracket his Moscow visit with stops in Latvia and Georgia sends a clear message about the power of freedom and the limits of Russian influence with its neighbors.

Putin bristles at what he sees as interference from the West in Russia's affairs. He and Bush still refer to each other by their first names, but cold-eyed realism has replaced the giddy mood of their first encounter.

The relationship between the two leaders has deteriorated since their first meeting in Slovenia in 2001, when Bush said he looked Putin in the eye and "got a sense of his soul." Since then, U.S. officials have become increasingly concerned about Putin's commitment to democracy.

The Russian leader has concentrated power in the Kremlin, muffled press criticism and effectively nationalized Russia's largest energy company.

Bush is likely to avoid direct criticism during the Moscow visit, which is largely a ceremonial affair. Aides said Bush would continue to look for ways to work with Russia in the war on terror and in efforts to stop nuclear proliferation. Bush particularly wants Putin's help in shutting down any nuclear-weapons programs in North Korea and Iran.

The two leaders and their wives will meet for dinner at Putin's dacha near Moscow on Sunday night. On Monday, Bush and more than 50 other world leaders will gather in Red Square for the festivities marking the end of the war in Europe, though it raged on in the Pacific until August 1945.

Russians have long felt that the West has downplayed their wartime sacrifices and their role in winning the conflict. The Soviet Union's losses — as many as 9 million soldiers and 18 million civilians, by some estimates — dwarf the death tolls in Europe.

The United States lost about 300,000 soldiers.