MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/. Russian State Duma Sergey Naryshkin believes that the United States’ refusal to apologize for the atom bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 is tantamount to an attempt to erase historical memory.

"I’ve always wondered why US politicians are so reluctant to apologize to the Japanese for the war crime they committed. It might seem it would be a very humane and correct gesture to make," Naryshkin told a TASS news conference on Thursday.

"I have one guess. Possibly I am wrong. I suspect that this is one of the many attempts to erase the historical memory of that event: who is to blame, who authored that barbarity, that war crime for which there is no statute of limitations," Naryshkin speculated. "As long as there are no apologies, with time it will be possible to disclaim responsibility."