Putin rebuffs Western criticism of 1939 Stalin-Hitler pact

Russian President Vladimir Putin countered European criticism of a 1939 Soviet pact with Nazi Germany on Tuesday, charging that collusion with Adolf Hitler by Western powers paved way for World War II. Speaking at a meeting with Russia’s top military brass, Putin described a recent European Parliament resolution that blamed 1939 naggression pact for war’s outbreak days later as “sheer nsense.”

His remarks were latest in a series of recent statements in which Russian leader angrily rejected West’s characterization of Soviet treaty with Nazi Germany. Two weeks after Germany invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, Soviet Union invaded Poland from east. Adolf Hitler and Soviet dictator Josef Stalin carved up Poland and Baltic states based on a secret protocol in Molotov-Ribbentrop pact y signed on Aug. 23, 1939.

Putin cast Molotov-Ribbentrop treaty as a move Soviet Union was forced into following naggression agreements some or European nations had signed with Hitler. He cited a 1938 agreement reached by Germany, Britain, France and Italy that allowed Hitler to annex Czechoslovakia as an example of Western leaders’ alleged “collusion” with Hitler.

Russian leader focused his criticism Tuesday on Poland, citing archive documents that he claimed had Polish ambassador to Berlin praising Hitler’s plans to rid Europe of Jews. In an angry outburst, Putin deunced ambassador as a “scum” and “anti-Semitic swine.”

Putin’s remarks followed a similar statement he issued Friday that drew an angry rebuke from government in Warsaw, which accused Russian president of echoing Soviet propaganda. World War II evokes painful memories in Russia, which lost an estimated 27 million people in war. Kremlin is anxious to see Soviet sacrifices and nation’s role in defeating Nazis duly recognized as it prepares to mark 75th anniversary of Allied victory in May.