AKIPRESS.COM - Russia hopes that all leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member countries, invited by Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9, will participate in the event, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday, Tass reported.

"All CIS leaders have been invited by President Putin to attend the parade and other events in Moscow, and we anticipate all of them will be with us on Red Square," Lavrov told journalists following a meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers in the Kazakh city of Almaty.

Lavrov emphasized that the meeting participants underscored the special significance of the events dedicated to the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War.

"On May 9, we will be pleased to see our friends from the Commonwealth states at the events in Moscow dedicated to this most important memorial date for our fraternal peoples and for all mankind," he added.