MOSCOW, November 19. /TASS/. The statement that Germany’s ambassador to Lithuania made about the Soviet Union’s goals in World War II was a cynical provocation, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.

German Ambassador to Lithuania Matthias Sonn said earlier that by liberating Germany from Nazism, the Soviet Union had sought to establish Stalin's oppressive regime in the defeated country.

"We are outraged by the German ambassador’s words," Zakharova pointed out. "Given the history of World War II and the role of Germany and its people in the deadliest war of all time, the statement sounded particularly cynical and insolent. I would like to emphasize that we expect Germany to provide a clarification and distance itself from the insinuations of an individual, which, unfortunately, are not an isolated incident," the Russian diplomat added.

Zakharova also said that a pseudo-historical narrative was being promoted in Germany, which "equates the Soviet Union to the Third Reich in the context of the causes of World War II, identifying the Communist with the National Socialist regime." "It is being done with a clear goal to pass the buck of Germany's responsibility for the inhuman crimes of Nazism. We strongly reject this approach as it calls into question the unprecedented process of post-war reconciliation between the Russian and German people," Zakharova stressed, adding that for the people of the Soviet Union, the war against Nazi Germany was a fight for freedom and independence in the face of the threat of being enslaved and killed by Nazis.