Let's be open regardless of the past

Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin / Photo: EPA-EFE / MICHAEL KLIMENTYEV / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL MANDATORY CREDIT

From Vladimir Putin's article "Let's be open regardless of the past" for the German newspaper DieZeit on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War:

  • The heroes of the Red Army and the rear saved Europe and the world from slavery.

"Despite attempts to rewrite the pages of the past, the truth is that the Soviet soldier came to Germany not to avenge the Germans, but with the noble, great mission of the liberator."

  • After World War II, the peoples of Europe began a policy of integration.

"The historic reconciliation of our people and the Germans who lived in both the east and the west of today's united Germany played a colossal role in shaping such a Europe."

  • The USSR and the SRG signed the "Agreement of the Century" in 1970 - for the supply of gas to Europe.

It "laid the foundations for constructive interdependence and became the beginning of many subsequent ambitious projects, including the construction of the Nord Stream pipeline."

  • Russia supported Charles de Gaulle's idea of ​​a single continent, but NATO's eastward expansion began.

"Since 1999, there have been five waves of NATO enlargement. "The organization included 14 new countries, including the republics of the former Soviet Union, which effectively buried hopes for a continent without divisions."

  • Many countries were faced with an artificial choice - to be either the collective West or Russia.

"We can see the consequences of such an aggressive policy in the 2014 Ukrainian tragedy. Europe actively supported the unconstitutional armed coup in Ukraine… Why should this have been done? At the time, incumbent President Yanukovych had already agreed to all the demands of the opposition. "Why did the United States stage a coup and the countries of Europe reluctantly support it, causing a rift in Ukraine itself and the withdrawal of Crimea from its membership?"

  • Europe's prosperity and security are possible only with the unification of all countries, including Russia.

"Russia is committed to renewing its comprehensive partnership with Europe. We have many topics of common interest. "These are security and strategic stability, health and education, digitalisation, energy, culture, science and technology, and solving climate and environmental problems."

  • Everyone should acknowledge the mistakes of the past and correct them.

"Our common and indisputable goal is to ensure continental security without divisions, a single space for equal cooperation and universal development for the prosperity of Europe and the world."

 

Read the full text here

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