World leaders arrive in Moscow

cctv.com 05-09-2005 09:47

The leaders of three countries who fought against the Allies during the second World War have also arrived in Russia for the commemorations to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of hostilities.

Late on Sunday, the Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, arrived with a dozen officials while the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, flew in with his wife. In an article in a top Russian newspaper on Monday, Schroeder apologized to Russia for the suffering inflicted by Germans during the war, and asked Moscow for forgiveness.

And later in the evening, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi arrived for the two-day celebration. On the Allied side, French President Jacques Chirac arrived in Moscow after attending a ceremony in Paris. Also in Moscow will be US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Following a meeting between Putin and US President George W Bush, Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov briefed reporters. They said Bush and Putin share wide agreement on the Middle East and both are determined to fight terrorism. Rice described the relationship between the two leaders as "absolutely straightforward", adding that the two leaders are able to "discuss anything".

Editor:Hu Hang  Source:CCTV.com