Moscow. 9th May. INTERFAX - Russia will continue its mutually beneficial partnership with all countries that share the values of freedom and justice, and stands for equal and indivisible security, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"I want to emphasize that Russia will continue its course towards the development of mutually beneficial partnership, friendship with all those who share the values of freedom and justice, stands for strict observance of international law and a comprehensive equal and indivisible security system," Putin said, speaking at a reception in honor of the heads of delegations of states participating in events on the occasion of the 79th anniversary- the anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
He stressed that this is a duty to all those who passed the terrible trials of the Second World War. "The memory of the military brotherhood of our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers, openness, mutual understanding and friendship of people of different nationalities, cultures and traditions will be a reliable support for our movement forward, for joint work for the sake of the future," the head of state said.
On Victory Day, Putin stressed, reliable partners and friends are welcomed with special warm feelings in Russia. "This sacred holiday is solemnly celebrated in the Commonwealth states, in many countries of Europe and the world, wherever they realize the enduring value of justice, equality and humanism, where they remember and honor the heroism, feats of soldiers who defended freedom and the future for the peoples of the planet," the president said.
Time has no power over the greatness of a grand Victory, he continued. "And despite all attempts to rewrite history, the lessons that the world community learned in the crucible of the Second World War are also unshakable. The Nazis and Japanese militarists dragged almost 80% of the world's population into it, unleashed aggression in Europe and North Africa, in the Asia-Pacific region, and killed millions of innocent people," the head of state said.
The feat of those who stopped and crushed this evil is fanned with eternal, unfading glory, Putin added, recalling the contribution of allies in the anti-Hitler coalition, participants in convoys, and the lend-Lease program, including Cuba, to the fight against Nazism.
"We are glad to see the President of this country, Mr. Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, on this solemn day for all of us. In the person of the President of Laos, Thonglong Sisulit, we welcome the peoples of the countries where underground fighters and participants in national liberation movements were active during the Second World War. Their struggle has become a prologue to the formation of independent sovereign states in Asia, which today play a growing role in the global economy and world affairs," the Russian president said.
The main blow, he noted, of the Nazi war machine was taken by the Soviet Union. "And the enemy received the fiercest, unyielding rebuff. The entire Soviet people stood up to defend the Fatherland. And history has never known such unity, such mass heroism," Putin stressed.
For the heads of the Commonwealth of Independent States gathered in Moscow, the President continued, Victory Day is a great holiday. "Veterans, home front workers in our countries are in every family. We just rode here on the bus together and talked about it, counting how many veterans were left in the ranks. The memory of those who left is an integral and very important part of our common history, our common military and labor triumphs," the Russian president said.
The country that defeated Nazism, defended its freedom, sincerely supported other peoples in their right to self-determination, helped the peoples of the African continent and Asia both during their anti-colonial struggle and after they gained state independence.
"I think the President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, who is present here, will agree that such a consistent policy of the Soviet Union, and then Russia, has borne fruit. Africa is strengthening its potential to become one of the distinctive and successful centers of the multipolar world, confidently forming a truly political and economic sovereignty," the Russian president said.
At the end of his speech, Putin proposed a toast "to the generation of winners, to the great Victory, to peace and prosperity, to our good friends." "Thank you for being with us," the Russian president said.