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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to welcome you to the Kremlin for the official reception marking the 80^th anniversary of the Great Victory.

First of all, I would like to express gratitude to the heads of state and government and the heads of foreign delegations and organisations that are with us today. We highly appreciate your decision to visit Moscow on May 9 and to share with our people the joy of this sacred holiday, which we hold infinitely dear.

The event marking Victory Day has invaluable significance for the world. But in Russia and the other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States it is part of the history of virtually every family. This direct bond determines our particularly warm attitude to this holiday and our position of principle regarding truth about the Great Patriotic War and its heroes, our predecessors, who have come through and withstood extreme challenges and achieved Victory.

I am confident that these feelings are shared by those whose relatives fought against Nazism and militarism, for freedom in Europe and the Atlantic region, in the Pacific Ocean, in Asia, Africa and everywhere where the Second World War battles raged. We in Russia remember the equipment and food we received. We bow before that great generation, no matter where they live and what language they may speak now. They will forever remain part of our family. We are one big family of the victors.

We know how vitally important solidarity and support — support from our allies, friends and comrades-in-arms — was for the fighting people of the Soviet Union. We will forever remain grateful to all our friends and comrades.

I consider it important that today we have come together to celebrate the anniversary of the Great Victory and remember those who gave all their strength for the freedom of their native land and the entire world, those who sacrificed themselves in the name of saving humanity.

This solidarity and fortitude in attaining a common goal is an example of invaluable importance. This example is especially important for us now as we again have to address the issue of sovereign rights of states and peoples to their identity and independence, to the very possibility to live in accordance with the historical, cultural and spiritual traditions of their forefathers, and to create a system of security and international relations based on the principles of real equality and respect for each other’s interests.

As time takes us further away from the events of World War Two, it becomes all the more important for us to preserve the values that were upheld by the Great Victory and to pass to future generations the truth of how and in the name of what it was won, as well as our conviction that solidarity of the people in their support of the ideals of peace, freedom and justice is of unlimited power. Our commitment to this is growing ever stronger.

I would like to once again congratulate you on Victory Day. I propose a toast to the great generation of the victors, to the triumph of truth and justice, and to the prosperity of our countries and peoples.