MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Countries of the Western coalition and Ukrainian radical nationalists continue to cook up historical exaggerations and falsifications, trying to set the two brotherly peoples against each other and demonize modern Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov wrote addressing the readers of the monograph "History of Ukraine."
The top diplomat noted that the authors of the publication, Russian historians and publicists, "touch upon a key topic in the current conditions - how the lands that make up modern Ukraine came to be."
"It is no secret that through the efforts of Ukrainian radical nationalists and their Western handlers over many years, a host of historical fantasies and falsifications have been and continue to be created," Lavrov said in remarks posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website.
"False interpretations of history lead to an erroneous idea in the public consciousness that Ukraine developed separately from Russia. The goal is clear - to set the two brotherly peoples against each other and demonize modern Russia as the successor of the Soviet Union through denying the unity of Ukrainians and Russians," the top diplomat stressed.
The sad consequence of this policy is "the denial of the common past, traditions of good neighborly relations and even - for many Russians, who were born and raised in Ukraine - their native language," he went on to say.
That is why it is especially important today to preserve, "and if necessary, to restore historical truth," Lavrov stressed. "This monograph is also intended to contribute to these noble efforts. It is based on a comprehensive, thorough analysis of how modern Ukraine came to be. The scholarly work allows for a better understanding of the origins of many current events and processes," the foreign minister said.