ST. PETERSBURG, 20 December (BelTA) – Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko is taking part in an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in St. Petersburg, BelTA has learned.
The event started after the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council where the heads of state took an official decision on Belarus' presidency in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in 2020.
Opening the meeting of the CIS leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the heads of state agreed to jointly prepare for the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. He also commented on the resolution the EU parliament condemning Molotov-Ribbentrop pact as the reason for the start of the Second World War.
Vladimir Putin stated that other European countries signed similar documents with Germany at that time. Among them were the UK, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. “The agreement between the Soviet Union and Germany was the last among those signed by other European countries interested in preserving peace. The Soviet Union agreed to sign the document only after all the possibilities were exhausted and all the suggestions for the development of a unified security system of the anti-fascist coalition in Europe were rejected,” the Russian leader said.
Citing the reliable historical records, Vladimir Putin spoke about the reasons and preconditions of the Second World War, which, according to him, dated back to the times of the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles. This topic took more than 50 minutes of his speech.
He recalled Munich Agreement signed by France, the UK and Nazi Germany in September 1938. “What happened in Munich, where the so-called western democracies betrayed their ally [Czechoslovakia], was the start of the war,” the Russian leader said, citing the words of several historical personalities, including Winston Churchill.
“The USSR, left alone, was forced to accept the reality that the western nations had created with their own hands. The division of Czechoslovakia was extremely cruel and cynical. In fact, it was a robbery. It can be said with every reason that it was the Munich conspiracy that served as a turning point in history, after which World War II became inevitable,” Vladimir Putin said.
At the end of his speech the Russian president invited the leaders of the CIS member states to the exhibition hall to view an exposition dedicated to the beginning of the Second World War.
