The material on the causes of war was written by Maas for Der Spiegel magazine, together with the director of the Institute for Contemporary History, Andreas Wirsching.
In it, the German minister states that "only Germany attacked Poland unleashed the Second World War."
The recent constant attempt to “shamelessly rewrite history” requires a clear position from Berlin, he emphasized.
Maria Zakharova, in turn, noted that this is "better than any additional definitions, explanations and comments."
“These words draw a line under any efforts to explain something to the Western partners. Many of them, even on such days and dates that are special for all of humanity, do not stop looking for attempts to distort history, ”she said during the briefing.
The diplomat drew attention to the statement of the US Department of Defense that the "conflict" began when "Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland."
“That is, according to the American side, the USSR is just as guilty of unleashing the Second World War as the Third Reich,” Zakharova added.
The text of the American ministry also does not mention that it was the Soviet Union that "broke the ridge of the fascist machine", and the largest number of Nazis fell on the Eastern Front.
"But it is said that less than a year after the landing of the United States and its allies in Normandy, the war ended," said the representative of the Foreign Ministry.
At the same time, an article by Heiko Maas and Andreas Wirsching argues that attributing the role of a criminal to other nations is unfair to the victims of war, and warned against "turning history into an instrument that splits Europe."