MOSCOW, September 3. / TASS /. The groundwork for the relations between Moscow and Beijing laid during World War II contributes to the continued stability all over the world, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday in a video message as part of the ‘Heroes of the last battle of World War II’ campaign.
"In late August 1945, the last battle of World War II in China ended when the soldiers of the 1st Far Eastern Front’s 25th Army eliminated the centers of resistance of Japan’s invading forces in Dongning," the Russian top diplomat recalled. "More than 1,500 Soviet soldiers and officers were killed in the battles for the Dongning Fortress. The peoples of the USSR and China supported each other during the harsh realities of the wartime, fought side by side against fascism and militarism for the sake of protecting peace and progress, defending human dignity and freedom."
"At the cost of enormous human losses, together, we defeated the enemy and laid a solid foundation for the development of ties between our countries. I am convinced that the friendship and strong mutual support passed down from generation to generation will foster the further dynamic development of Russian-Chinese relations and contribute to international peace and stability," the Russian foreign minister went on to say. "Russia and China strongly condemn attempts to falsify the history of the Second World War, revise its results, glorify the Nazis, militarists and their accomplices as well as to denigrate the victors."
Lavrov emphasized that over 80 military memorial sites of Soviet soldiers were carefully preserved by the Chinese authorities.
Russia’s top diplomat mentioned that on September 3, some events to perpetuate the names of the heroes of the Second World War’s last battle were taking place in Russia’s ten regions. "Major General Stepan Zhestakov; Major General Ivan Matyukhin; Colonel General, Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Chistyakov; of course, the USSR Marshal, Commander of the 1st Far Eastern Front, Kirill Meretskov, and many other names will remain in our memory forever. Today, China also pays tribute to the memory of the victorious war heroes," according to Lavrov.