Ambassador Kislyak: Elbe Meeting Brings Best in US-Russian Common History

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The meeting on the river Elbe during the World War II brings the best in what Russians and Americans in their common history and should never be forgotten, Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak told reporters at the "Spirit of Elbe" commemoration ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday.

"It was a crucial moment in the fight against the German fascists. I think that was the moment that brings the best in what we had in our common history of Russians and Americans. Something that needs to be remembered by future generations," Kislyak said.

The event was attended by delegates from the United States, Russia and other states comprising the former Soviet Union, including Kislyak as well as US State Department foreign service officer Eric Green, and veterans.

On April 25, 1945, Soviet and US troops met at the River Elbe, near the town of Torgau in Germany, a key milestone in the process to end the Second World War. The meeting marked by US troops advancing from the west and Soviet troops advance from the east has Nazi Germany in two.

Delegations from the United States, Russia and successor Soviet states laid wreaths at the "Spirit of the Elbe" memorial at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, DC.

The memorial was opened in 1995 to mark the 40th anniversary of the historical meeting between the US and Soviet armies at Elbe.