Europe
2019.12.26 00:46 GMT+8

Putin accuses Poland of anti-Semitism and colluding with Hitler

Updated 2019.12.26 00:46 GMT+8
Nilay Syam

Russian President Vladimir Putin continued his war of words with Poland, accusing the country of anti-Semitism and being in cahoots with Adolf Hitler during World War II.

In a meeting with top military officials on Tuesday, Putin charged Warsaw with cosying up to the Nazis.

"Essentially, they colluded with Hitler. This is clear from documents, archival documents," he said in an emotional address at the defense ministry in Moscow.

Putin was particularly critical of the wartime Polish envoy to Germany, who allegedly promised to erect a statue of the German dictator in Warsaw for the latter's pledge to deport Jews to Africa.

Referring to what he said were the diaries of the ambassador, the Russian leader said: "He expressed full solidarity with Hitler in his anti-Semitic views."

Putin also slammed attempts to erase Soviet sacrifices and victories during the conflict.

"It is people like those who negotiated with Hitler - it is people like that who today are tearing down monuments to the liberating warriors, the Red Army soldiers who freed Europe and the European people from the Nazis.

"Little has changed and we should take this into account when we build our armed forces, among other things."

Relations between Russia and Poland have come under considerable strain in recent days after Warsaw expressed "concern and disbelief" over statements issued by Putin and senior Russian officials on WWII.

Moscow was denounced for "renewing Stalinist propaganda" and "wasting" reconciliation efforts to improve ties.

Putin praised Russian efforts to equip its armed forces with the latest weaponry (Credit: AP)

The previous week, Putin had bristled at the West and Poland for trying to appease Nazi Germany by signing treaties, prior to the break out of hostilities in 1939.

He castigated the European Parliament over a resolution it passed in September urging Russia to reflect on Stalin's totalitarian legacy, which was deemed to deserve the same level of scrutiny as Nazi crimes.

Putin rejected the statement as "complete nonsense," claiming it was wrong to compare the USSR with Hitler's Germany.

Praising Russian efforts to equip its armed forces with the latest weaponry, the long-time leader said that the country was no longer behind the West in military technology.

Noting that during the Cold War the Soviet Union was lagging behind the United States in designing the atom bomb and building long-range ballistic missiles and strategic bombers, Putin expressed satisfaction about the current state of preparedness. 

"This is a unique situation in our modern history: they are playing catch-up with us," he added.

Pointing to the advances made in developing hypersonic missiles, Putin asserted that Russia was the only country ready to deploy weapons of such kind.

"Not a single country has hypersonic weapons, let alone hypersonic weapons of intercontinental range."

Source(s): AFP
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