Peres to meet Merkel
Photo: Amos Ben Gershon, GPO
Peres to salute Red Army
President to take part in Red Square ceremony marking 65th anniversary of victory over Nazis
President Shimon Peres is heading to Moscow, where he will participate Sunday in a military march marking the 65th anniversary of Nazi Germany's surrender.
Peres is expected to take advantage of his visit to the Russian capital in order to meet with world leaders, including China's president and the German chancellor.
Upon his departure from Israel, the president said that he is heading to Russia as the representative of the Jewish people, in order to salute Red Army soldiers who defeated the Nazis in World War II.
"I'm arriving at Red Square as the President of the State of Israel and as the representative of the Jewish people in the Diaspora in order to salute the Red Army and thank the Russian people for their victory over the Nazi German army," he said.
Peres added that he "feels a moral obligation to remind the whole world of the horrors suffered by the Jewish people in the Holocaust."
"These horrors would not have come to an end had the Red Army and allies not stopped the Nazi devil," he said.
The president is scheduled to take part in several events marking the victory over Germany in the coming days.
