Russia-U.S. Need ‘Serious Conversation’ after Effort To Write Russia Out of Anti-Fascist War History

May 11, 2020 (EIRNS)—Moscow is confronting attempts to distort the history of World War II, by insisting that it has to “hold a serious conversation” with U.S. officials after the scandalous V-E Day “congratulation” to London from Washington—which implied that the United States and the British Empire won the war alone. “All these attempts to distort the history of the victory over Nazism and the decisive contribution of our country to it and which do not stop in Washington even on the solemn days of the general celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Victory, are extremely appalling,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in an official statement yesterday, reported Sputnik.

“In this regard, we cannot ignore a comment posted by the White House on social networks in which the victory over Nazi Germany is attributed exclusively to ‘America and Great Britain,’ ” the Foreign Ministry said. “On the eve of this sacred day, American officials did not have the courage or desire to pay tribute to the undeniable role and colossally disproportionate sacrifices made by the Red Army and the Soviet people in the name of all humankind.”

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in a Facebook posting on May 10, contrasted the difference between the White House statement and the joint statement issued April 25 by the American and Russian presidents commemorating the 75th anniversary of the meeting of U.S. and Russian troops on the Elbe River

“which emphasized the roles of many countries and nations as well as the self-sacrifice of millions of soldiers and civilians in their fight against the Nazi regime. The Russian-U.S. statement praises the spirit of Elbe, while the White House’s tweet praises solely the ‘American spirit.’ The Russian-U.S. statement speaks to an example of how the two countries can cooperate despite their disagreements, while the U.S. administration’s tweet excludes all but two nations from the list of victors.”

Reflecting the American side of the spirit of which Zakharova was speaking, were the eight World War II veterans, ages 96-100, who participated in the wreath-laying ceremony with President Donald Trump at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. on May 8. They had originally been planning to be in Moscow for the May 9 Victory Day parade, but when the coronavirus pandemic made international travel impossible, they opted, instead, to go to Washington. “Of course, we presented to them the risk we are facing,” said Timothy Davis, director of the Greatest Generations Foundation, reported Associated Press. “They said, ‘It doesn’t matter, Tim,’ ” and asked him to press ahead, saying they viewed the commemoration as “a blessing to all who fought, died and served in World War II.”