WASHINGTON, April 24. /TASS/. The Russian Ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, diplomats from the Russian embassy, World War II veterans who fought on the Soviet Front , and representatives of CIS member-states took part in a flower-laying ceremony on Tuesday at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington.

They laid flowers at the Spirit of the Elbe memorial marker.

The annual ceremony commemorates the historic meeting of Soviet and American soldiers on the River Elbe on April 25, 1945.

Staff members of the embassies of Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Belarus, as well as former Soviet veterans and veterans of the US Armed Forces brought flowers to the marker, too.

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Thomas Shannon, attended the ceremony at the head of a delegation of the US Department of State.

A separate flower was laid by members of the joint US-Russian commission for prisoners of war and missing in action.

The memorial slab at Arlington National Cemetery was unveiled in April 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Linkup on the Elbe.

An inscription on the slab reads, "In recognition of the cooperation by American, Soviet and Allied armed forces during World War II. This marker symbolizes the link up of Soviet and American elements at the Elbe River on 15 April 1945. In tribute to the partnership in the battle against tyranny.".