Putin to visit Beijing in September for celebrations of victory in WWII, Kremlin press service chief says

MOSCOW, March 19 /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Beijing in September to take part in the celebrations of Victory in World War Two, Kremlin Administration Chief Sergei Ivanov told journalists on Thursday. "We have very much in common in our approach to the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War /1941-1945/ and the end of WWII in September," Ivanov said adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin would visit Beijing at this time. "Our joint struggle against fascism and militarism gives us the moral right to remember history once again, including the fact that four countries - the Soviet Union, Britain, the United States and China - formed the nucleus of the anti-Hitler coalition," the Kremlin spokesperson said. Li Zhanshu, the head of the General Office of the Communist Party of China, clarified that the Beijing celebrations were scheduled for September 3. "We are planning to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Victory in WWII and in the resistance to Japanese occupiers on September 3. We are inviting a high-level Russian delegation to these celebrations," Li Honshu said. He added that China had invited a Russian military crew to take part in the parade in Beijing. Ivanov noted that a Chinese parade crew would take part in the May 9 Victory parade in Moscow. According to him, the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of Victory was one of the main topics for discussion on Thursday. The Kremlin administration chief said that the joint celebration of the victory by Russia and China "was a very good chance to remind young people in the first place but also some adults, who have entirely forgotten history or are pretending to have gotten it, about the contribution made by the Soviet and Chinese peoples to the victory over fascism and Japanese militarism." The Kremlin administration chief also said that Chinese President Xi Jinping would visit Moscow on May 8-9. Apart from attending the V-Day parade, he is going to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time this year. Read more