MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged all the countries to unite in order to fight against international terrorism, comparing it with the rise of Nazism ahead of World War II.
"What other lesson do we need [besides World War II] to unite in the fight against international terrorism casting aside old ideological differences and geopolitical games," Putin told the MPs, warning about the growing danger that this common threat will spread.
"There is the need to create a modern and off-bloc system of collective security that is equal for all states," Putin said. "Russia is open for discussing this most important issue and has repeatedly said that it is ready for dialogue but now, like this was on the eve of the Second World War, we don’t see any positive feedback response," he said.
On the contrary, NATO is "stepping up its aggressive rhetoric and its aggressive actions" near Russia’s borders. "In these conditions we have to pay special attention to solving tasks linked to increasing our country’s defensive capacity," he said.
In his speech on the Day of Remembrance and Grief in Russia, Putin reminded that World War II had been started by the Nazis. "Their ideology of hatred, blind faith in their own exceptionalism and impeccability, and the drive for global domination led to the gravest tragedy of the 20th century," he said.
"The major lesson of the war is well-known: it could have been prevented but there was the need to suppress the rampaging Nazis and their accomplices timely and firmly," Putin said.
Putin stressed that the direct proposals of the Soviet Union on collective defense were rejected. "The leadership of some Western countries preferred the policy of containing the Soviet Union, they sought to place it in conditions of international isolation," he said.
The real terrible global threat came from Nazism but its danger was underestimated, he reminded. "The international community did not show vigilance, will and unity in order to prevent the war and save millions and millions of lives," Putin said.
Wednesday marks exactly 75 years since Nazi troops attacked the Soviet Union. During the 1,418 days of the Great Patriotic War about 27 million of Soviet citizens were killed including 18 million of civilians. In memory of those who were killed in that war Russia declared June 22 the Day of Remembrance and Grief.