(MENAFN- QNA) The foreign ministers of Russia and Germany on Thursday visited the site of the bloodiest battle of World War II as their countries mark the 70th anniversary of the war's end in Europe.
Russia's Sergei Lavrov and Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier gathered at a cemetery of 60,000 German and Soviet troops in the southern Russian city of Volgograd, named Stalingrad during the Soviet era.
The 1942-43 Battle of Stalingrad, in which 700,000 people were killed, ended in a decisive Soviet victory over invading Nazi forces
and turned the tide on the Eastern Front.
Steinmeier was quoted by German News Agency (DPA) as saying that despite currently complicated relations between Germany and Russia due to the Ukraine crisis, it was important for him to "reflect on the horrors of World War II, standing beside my Russian colleague."
He added: "We must promote understanding instead of old stereotypes and peacefully overcome differences. In days like these, we want to put an emphasis on what binds us and not what divides us."
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