MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/. Western countries are deflecting the global community from the problem of neo-Nazism thriving in Ukraine, by focusing on what is actually not problematic, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Sputnik radio station on Wednesday.
"Nowadays, we are observing zero reaction [to the issue of neo-Nazism thriving in Ukraine]. Moreover, we see an anti-reaction. The reaction that appears to shift the attention of the international community away from the problem and deliberately focuses on whatever does not constitute a problem. It seems as if we are invited to talk about our efforts on the anti-Fascist front, and about how we feel in general about the subject of Holocaust. Does that require some kind of proof?" she maintained.
"We find ourselves in the 21st century, but actually even earlier, at the end of the 20th [century], we’ve been practically toe-to-toe against this attempt to rewrite history, and turn away from it. [And to] do the unthinkable, that is, to disparagingly treat the memory of soldiers who had laid down their lives or returned home having fulfilled their duty," the diplomat noted replying to a question regarding the reaction of the Israeli Foreign Ministry to Sunday’s remarks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. "I think that one shouldn’t shift attention away from the heart of the matter by focusing on conspicuous statements. This is unjust. Since it is impossible to ignore and cast into oblivion the memory of millions of people who were victims of the Nazis and those who died defending and saving people from Nazism," she explained.
Furthermore, the spokeswoman hit out at the global community for turning a blind eye to the existence of neo-Nazi forces in Ukraine. "So, let’s stop calling it double standards. There is a good word in normal parlance called ‘maliciousness.’ Let’s leave this rhetoric in the past when it was still pertinent, when attempts to reach out, explain and appeal to empathy turned out to be in vain," she added.
On May 1, in an interview with Rete 4 of Italy’s Mediaset broadcaster, Lavrov talked about Russia’s fundamental stance on the events in Ukraine, pointing out that the Kiev regime with the support of the US does not want to continue negotiations as well as noted false information disseminated by Western media outlets and explained some decisions by Russia’s leadership. During the interview, the Russian top diplomat also commented on statements by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky that "Nazification" is not possible in his country since he is Jewish. In response, Lavrov noted that he could be mistaken but Hitler also had Jewish roots. This raised some eyebrows in a number of countries.