BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

22/06/2008

Russian, Belarussian presidents to meet at WWII front

MOSCOW, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko are to meet on Sunday at the Brest fortress, where the Nazi Germany first invaded the former Soviet Union during World War II.

The leaders of the two states are to lay wreaths at the Eternalfire and a memorial to the defenders of Brest, a Belarussian city bordering Poland.

They will also meet the veterans of the Great Patriotic War or the World War II on Sunday, the Day of Memory and Grief marked by Russia and some other post-Soviet countries, said the Kremlin.

In the first days of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), Brest was attacked and encircled by the Nazi army. The Soviet troops kept on fighting and stood out for almost a month, lacking heavy weapons and short of ammunition, food and medicine.

In 1965, the Brest fortress was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Gold Star Medal as well as the title of Hero-Fortress.

Medvedev and Lukashenko are also expected to discuss bilateral economic cooperation on the occasion, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Source:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/22/content_8417702.htm

Google