MOSCOW. Dec 6 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko to the Moscow parade marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, which is due in 2025.
"We are expecting Alexander Grigoryevich [Lukashenko] to attend the jubilee in Moscow on May 9. We have also invited Belarusian military units to join the Russian military in the Red Square parade," Putin said at a meeting of the Russia-Belarus Union State's Supreme State Council.
Both Russia and Belarus cherish the feat of "our grandfathers who fought the Nazis shoulder-to-shoulder. Indeed, we will continue to do everything we can so that the next generations never forget the price of peace and freedom," Putin said.
He also said he was hoping to meet with Lukashenko at an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and a session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in St. Petersburg on December 25-26.