MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. Russia attempted to reach common assessments with Poland regarding the causes and history of World War II, but hatred of all things Russian prevailed in Warsaw, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin, commenting on remarks by the Polish president about the USSR’s alleged involvement in unleashing World War II.

"That members of the Polish leadership have their own interpretation of history, their own vision of history, is no secret to us," Peskov said.

He recalled that Russia and Poland even established a joint group on historical issues, which, among other things, studied the Katyn tragedy. "At that time, there was indeed an attempt to somehow bring our understanding of history to a common denominator. It did not work. Hatred of all things Russian prevailed among members of the Polish leadership. And to this day, these Russophobic sentiments continue to dominate," Peskov concluded.

He added that the move by European countries to deny the Soviet contribution to the victory over Nazism occurred gradually, as part of irreversible processes of forming double standards toward all key principles of building society and the state

"That is how circumstances unfolded," he replied when asked whether such a distortion of historical perception had been a deliberate program.

"There were truly irreversible processes taking place within Europe itself. These are double standards regarding democracy, globalization, and this approach to the coexistence of nations," he added.