Russia’s Putin Accuses Poland of Collusion with Hitler

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Poland of waging World War II and supporting Nazi Germany leader Adolf Hitler during a speech at an expanded meeting of the Russian Defence Ministry Board and at a meeting with the leadership of the State Duma.

This is reported by the Russian newspaper Kommersant.

At the Defence Ministry Board meeting, Putin commented on a resolution of the European Parliament, adopted on September 17, which states that both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union are responsible for the outbreak of World War II.

"Yes, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, yes, it was signed ... And there was a secret so-called treaty on the distribution of spheres of influence. And what had European countries been doing before? Exactly the same thing! They all did the same!"Putin said during the speech.

He proceeded to accuse Poland of colluding with Hitler.

"This is evident from the documents, from the archival documents! Another question, whether there were any secret appendices or not — but it does not matter! It is important how they had acted. They definitely acted in collusion!"Putin said, adding that at the Munich conference, Hitler directly represented the interests of Poland, and partly Hungary.

READ MORE: Russia And NATO: Poland Talks Security At Warsaw Forum

According to the President of Russia, in 1938, the Polish ambassador to Germany supported the deportation of Jews to Africa.

Earlier, Poland's foreign ministry accused the Russian head of state of distorting the prehistory of World War II. Diplomats said the Russian authorities referred to "propaganda of the Stalinist regime condemned by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev" in their statements.

On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany launched armed aggression against Poland, and on September 17, under agreements between the two totalitarian regimes, Soviet troops attacked Poland, thereby violating the provisions of the 1932 Soviet-Polish Non-Aggression Pact.

On September 28, 1939, the Soviet Union and the Third Reich signed another agreement on borders and friendship, thus dividing Poland among themselves.

Historians estimate that Poland lost in total 425,000 military personnel and over 5.5 million civilians in World War II. Soviet repression between 1939 and 1945 claimed the lives of 566,000 people — those arrested, deported and killed.