The German weekly Die Zeit on Tuesday, June 22, published an article dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The author of the material is Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Whoever is trying to rewrite the pages of the past now, the truth is that a Soviet soldier came to Germany not to take revenge on the Germans, but with a noble, great mission – a liberator,†the head of the Russian state said in his publication.
According to Putin, after the war, many countries were given an ultimatum: to be either with the collective West or with Russia. However, the prosperity of Europe is possible with the joint efforts of all countries, including the Russian Federation, he stressed.
“Our common and indisputable goal is to ensure continental security without dividing lines,†the Russian leader summed up in his material.
Earlier, the press secretary of the Russian leader Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the publication of the article in German, noted that it was Germany that became the first victim of Nazism. The theme of the war, the Kremlin spokesman added, is very important for both Germans and Russians.
Last year, an article by Putin on World War II was published in the American edition of The National Interest. In it, the Russian leader, in particular, wrote that the Munich Agreement, in which France and Great Britain participated, led to the inevitability of war.
