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Lavrov lays wreaths at the monument to Soviet soldier in Kirkenes

Norway marks on Saturday the 70th anniversary of liberation of its northern regions from Nazi occupation by the Soviet Red Army

KIRKENES, October 25. /TASS/. Visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has laid wreaths at the monument to the Soviet Liberator Soldier in the Norwegian city of Kirkenes and met with Russian and Norwegian WWII veterans.

On behalf of the Russian people and the president, Sergey Lavrov thanked Norwegian war veterans for their help to Soviet soldiers, for fighting side by side, and said “nothing can replace the brotherhood of arms”.

Norway marks on Saturday the 70th anniversary of liberation of its northern regions from Nazi occupation by the Soviet Red Army.

In an interview with the Norwegian daily Verdens ahead of the visit, Lavrov thanked Norway for treating with great respect and gratitude the feat of the Soviet soldiers liberators in the World War II, which could be seen in the tender care of burial sites of the Soviet soldiers.

“I would like to underscore the importance of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of eastern Finnmark for the Russian-Norwegian relations,” Lavrov said in the interview. “This anniversary gave us a brilliant opportunity to see the manifestation of extremely warm and sincere feelings of our peoples.”

“The scale of events dedicated to this anniversary is very impressive as well as the level of involvement of ordinary Norwegians in the organization and management of the celebrations,” the Russian minister said. “It is probably the prove of the great respect and gratitude for the feat of liberator-soldiers, which can be also seen in tender care of burial sites with Soviet soldiers and in other directions to preserve the historic memory.”

“All this is a valuable element of the heritage of our countries, the foundation, on which relations between Russia and Norway are built for today and for the perspective,” Lavrov added.