“Both in the past and now they scare Russia”: Putin - on attempts to accuse the Soviet Union of unleashing World War II

In St. Petersburg, an informal meeting of leaders of the CIS countries took place. During the talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the organization will never forget the feat of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War, and also presented colleagues with copies of archival materials relating to the history of the beginning of World War II.

Putin cited a statement by US President Franklin Roosevelt that the Red Army weakened the initial blow of the fascist troops by pushing forward to new frontiers and called on Western countries to keep this in mind.

Also during the familiarization of the leaders of the countries with the documents, Putin noted that Europe deliberately hides the truth about the Second World War in attempts to shift the blame for its beginning from the Nazis to the Communists. Thus, the president noted, Western countries are trying to hide the uncomfortable moments of their own history.

“Yes, we know who Stalin is. Yes, we gave him our marks. But I think that the fact remains that it was fascist Germany that attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, and the Soviet Union on June 22 (1941), ”Putin emphasized.

The Russian leader also added that the West frightened Russia both in tsarist and Soviet times, and similar tactics are still being observed. He added that in order to weaken the USSR, the then Western leaders were even ready to make a deal with fascist Germany, having concluded a number of agreements, to which there is documentary evidence.

He noted that the resolution of the European Parliament “On the importance of preserving historical memory for the future of Europe” states that the “Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact” (Non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, signed in 1939) “divided Europe and the territories of independent states between the two totalitarian regimes, which paved the way for the start of World War II. " In addition, European deputies are demanding that Russia stop its efforts to “distort” historical facts and propagate the thesis that Poland, the Baltic countries and the West are the real instigators of the war.

Putin said that he was "surprised and hurt" by a resolution of the European Parliament, as the CIS has always sought to ensure the veracity and objectivity of history.

Putin recalled that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was not the only document signed by one of the European countries with fascist Germany, but it was not customary to talk about the rest.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin at an informal meeting of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) at the Boris N. Yeltsin Presidential Library
• RIA News
• © Mikhail Klimentyev

Reading the documents, Putin mentioned the declaration of non-use of force with Berlin, signed in 1934 by Warsaw. The Anglo-German naval agreement of 1935 was also mentioned, which allowed Germany to have its own navy, which was forbidden to it according to the results of the First World War. After it followed the Anglo-German declaration of Chamberlain and Hitler, as well as non-aggression documents signed by France, Lithuania and Latvia.

“Thus, the agreement between the USSR and Germany was the last among those that were signed by other European countries, as if interested in maintaining peace in Europe. At the same time, I want to note that the USSR did not agree to sign this document after all the possibilities were exhausted, all proposals of the USSR on creating a unified security system ... in Europe were rejected, ”Putin emphasized.

Putin also recalled that Warsaw before the Munich agreement (the agreement between Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy in 1938, according to which Czechoslovakia was supposed to free and cede the Sudetenland to Germany within 10 days) made claims on part of the Czechoslovak lands, like Germany. He noted that Warsaw, in an effort to get its share of the spoils, “sent militants to carry out sabotage and terrorist attacks, conducted active preparations for the partition and occupation of Czechoslovakia”.

Putin added that world politicians of that time had a positive assessment of the Munich agreement, and only Winston Churchill "honestly assessed the situation and called things by their proper names."

“In 1938, Hitler could still be stopped by the collective efforts of European states. This was also recognized by Western leaders, ”said the President of Russia.

At the same time, the head of state did not deny that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact “contains a secret part about the division of a territory”.

“But we do not know what is in other agreements of European countries with Hitler. Because if we opened these documents, then in the Western capitals all this is stored under the heading “secret” ... But now we don’t need to know, because we see from the facts that there was a conspiracy. In fact, we see that there was a division of an independent democratic state - Czechoslovakia. And not only Hitler participated in this, but also the former leaders of these states. This is exactly what opened Hitler’s eastward movement, and this is precisely what caused the outbreak of World War II, ”said Vladimir Putin.

He also said that he intends to write an article on this topic so that the information is “formatted accordingly”.

He previously said that the resolution of the European Parliament actually “put the Soviet Union on the same level as the Nazi aggressors,” and the West calls any attempt to argue with these allegations “an information war against a democratic Europe.” Putin also called for continued archival material on the tragedies of the war, noting that there can be no uncomfortable pages in history.