Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac said that he does not know why the Serbian Army (VS) was not invited to the Victory Day parade in Moscow which will mark the 65th anniversary of the victory over fascism.

Serbia's contribution to that victory was impressive, he noted. The number of victims it had during World War II should have placed Serbia among the participants in the ceremony in Moscow, Sutanovac said.

He was attending the opening of an exhibition of photographs and documents mainly from the personal archives of Soviet General Vladimir Zhdanov who commanded the Red Army forces which liberated Belgrade.

The exhibition was organized by the Rusian embassy in Belgrade. Military relations between Serbia and Russia unfortunately lag behind their political relations, Sutanovac said, expressing hope that these relations will improve this year.

A high level Russian delegation headed by its army chief of staff is expected to visit Serbia at the end of this year, Sutanovac said.

This will pave the way for an exchange of visits by ministers and provide an opportunity for opening a new era in bilateral military relations that would make them similar to political relations, he said.

Asked by the press about the statement by NATO SecGen Rasmussen that NATO wants better relations with Balkan states, especially Serbia, Sutanovac said that Serbia has been a member of PfP since 2006.

It is true that all cooperation opportunities provided by PfP have not been used, and Serbia wants to make full use of them this year, he said.