Putin to be guest of honour at Serbia military parade

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic in Belgrade

Russian President Vladimir Putin has flown into Belgrade where he is to be guest of honour at a Serbian military parade loaded with symbolism.

It marks 70 years since Soviet troops helped liberate the city from Nazi occupation and is the first to be held in nearly 30 years.

Serbia's historic ties with Russia sit awkwardly with its EU ambitions, especially since the Ukraine crisis. On the eve of his arrival, Mr Putin accused the US of "hostility".

In an interview with Serbian newspaper Politika, he accused America of trying to blackmail Russia with sanctions over Ukraine but warned that would be futile.

He is due to meet a number of foreign leaders at an Asia-Europe summit in the Italian city of Milan later on Thursday.

They include Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, amid pressure on Russia to implement a peace plan for eastern Ukraine.

Under sanctions - and increasingly isolated over his actions in Ukraine - President Putin remains outwardly defiant, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford reports from Moscow. One of the key issues that Mr Putin is set to discuss with his Ukrainian counterpart is a possible deal for Ukraine to pay its gas debts in return for a resumption of Russian gas supplies.

'Virus of Nazism'

Mr Putin began his visit with a solemn ceremony at the main monument to the city's liberation in 1944, standing before a wreath as the countries' national anthems were played.

More than 3,000 Serbian soldiers are due to march past in a parade which will feature tanks, boats and a fly-past that includes a Russian aerobatic team.

The event is likely to play well among Serbs and Russians nostalgic for Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union.

Russia has championed Serbia's continuing claim to its breakaway territory of Kosovo.

Serbian armoured vehicles at a rehearsal for the military parade on Tuesday

Belgrade has a new statue of Russian Tsar Nicholas II

Serbian MiG-29 jets prepare for take-off at the Batajnica military airport near Belgrade on Tuesday

A man cleans the grave of a Soviet soldier at Belgrade's memorial cemetery

In another nod to the two countries' historic relations, a statue of Russia's last Tsar, Nicholas II, was erected this week in Belgrade.

The timing of the parade has upset some Serbs as it was brought forward four days from the actual anniversary of the liberation, apparently to fit into Mr Putin's schedule.

"This government demonstrates such servility towards Russia, which is our ally only when it suits it," office worker Aleksandra Pasic, 29, told AFP news agency.

But according to carpenter Milorad Lazic, 56: "Russia is our mother, and with or without Liberation Day, the Russian president deserves a parade."

The parade is also likely to jar with EU leaders, given Russia's use of military force in Ukraine this year, when it annexed Crimea, Since then it has been accused of intervening covertly in the bloody separatist rebellion in Ukraine's eastern regions.

Mr Putin told Politika the parade in Belgrade would contribute to efforts to "oppose the glorification of Nazism and attempts to revise the outcome of World War Two".

"The vaccine against the virus of Nazism has weakened in certain European countries," he added.

US 'hostility' 

 Mr Putin's comments in Politika are his strongest for some time, our correspondent says.

"Lat's welcome Putin!" reads a sticker on a car window in Belgrade

He described Washington's approach to Russia as "hostile" - referring to both the economic sanctions it has imposed and President Barack Obama's strong critique of Russian aggression in Ukraine, during a recent speech to the UN.

Mr Putin said attempts to "blackmail" Moscow would be futile and would only impede any dialogue over Ukraine. He then warned darkly of the consequences of discord between nuclear states for "strategic stability".

There has been little progress yet on implementing a peace deal for eastern Ukraine that Russia signed up to in September, our correspondent adds.