(Corrects name of banner in lead, adds paragraph 3)
MOSCOW, April 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has vetoed a law to remove the Soviet symbols of the hammer and sickle from the VE banner, the Kremlin press service said Friday.
In a letter to the speakers of both houses of parliament, following a Friday meeting with WWII veterans, Putin urged "additional consultations" citing "complaints from veterans' associations".
Under the law, the official banner displayed on VE Day parades should be without the hammer and sickle. The State Duma passed the law April 6 and later overturned the veto of the upper house, leaving the presidency as the only institution having authority to ban the law.
