Putin's visit to massacre site to be welcomed: Polish FM

2009-11-19 17:15:39 GMT2009-11-20 01:15:39 (Beijing Time) Xinhua English

WARSAW, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- A highest-level tribute to the Katyn massacre victims by Russia would be warmly welcomed by Poland, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Thursday while commenting rumors that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin planned to visit the Katyn site next spring.

The 1940 massacre by Soviet security services of 22,000 Polish army officers, policemen and officials in Katyn Forest, west Russia, is a long-standing point of discord between the two countries.

Asked about Putin's possible arrival in Katyn, Sikorski said the Russian prime minister's visit to the site was as yet "nothing but press rumors."

Russia's daily Nyezavisimaya Gazeta reported earlier that Putin would probably accept Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's invitation to next year's celebrations marking the Katyn massacre's 70th anniversary.

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