Story highlights "The Star-Spangled Banner" also wasn't played, though it usually is

The apparent snubs came amidst rising tensions between the U.S. and Russia, particularly over Syria and Ukraine

Washington (CNN) The Russian Embassy held its annual celebration of Armed Forces Day Thursday night in Northwest Washington -- but this year, things were a bit different.

In a departure from tradition, representatives from both the U.S. military and NATO were no-shows.

"They had a room set aside with photos of all their newest military equipment -- all kinds of their latest and greatest stuff," one attendee told CNN. "But there were no U.S. officials there to show it off to."

"The U.S. and Russian militaries have regular professional interactions on issues such as the safety of operations for deployed forces," said Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Michelle Baldanza. "However, following Russia's military intervention in Ukraine, the department has scaled back the overall number of professional engagements we have with the Russian armed forces."

Russian Embassy spokesman Yury Melnik expressed his disappointment with the decision.

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