Putin arrives in Serbia

BELGRADE - Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Belgrade on Thursday to meet with Serbia's top officials and attend a military parade.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic welcomed Putin at the Belfrade airport.

The two officials went to a Blegrade cemetery called Novo groblje after meeting at the airport, where they laid wreaths to commemorate Belgrade's liberators.

The Russian president will later hold separate meetings with Nikolic and Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

This is Putin's tird visit to Belgrade. He was in Serbia in 2001 as the president of the Russian Federation and in 2010 as the prime minister.

He met with Nikolic in Russia five times since mid-2012 and with Vucic in July this year.

Russian President will meet with Serbian top officials and attend a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade, the victory over fascism and the centenary of the outbreak of World War I.

Putin will be a guest of honour at a military parade and also lay wreaths at the memorials to the liberators of Belgrade and the heroes of WWI.

The Russian president will have separate meetings with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and receive from Nikolic the Order of the Republic of Serbia on a sash.

Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov announced on Thursday that the Russian delegation will include Energy Minister Alexander Novak, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller, Andrey Belyaninov. head of the Russian Federal Customs Service, Minister of Emergency Situations and Civil Defence Vladimir Puchkov and Federal Migration Service Chief Konstantin Romodanovsky.

Ahead of Putin's visit, President Nikolic on Wednesday met...