Putin congratulates Vucic on 80th anniversary of WWII liberation of Belgrade

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has received a congratulatory message from Russian President Vladimir Putin on occasion of the approaching 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade from fascism in WWII.

"The Belgrade offensive operation, carried out eight decades ago by Red Army forces and Yugoslav partisan squads, is a glorious page in our shared history. Thousands of Soviet soldiers who fell in the fight against Nazism rest in Serbian soil. We highly respect the respect and the attentive attitude with which the authorities and the citizens of Serbia preserve their memory," Putin's message said.

According to a statement released by the press office of the president of Serbia, Putin noted that, for centuries, Russians and Serbs had stood by each other in the fight against common enemies, overcoming hardships and challenges together.

"It is important that the good traditions of the brotherly friendship bequeathed to us by ancestors continue to serve today as a dependable foundation for developing the relationship of strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Serbia. I sincerely wish health and success to you and well-being and prosperity to all your compatriots," Putin wrote in the message to Vucic.