Russia accuses US of downplaying Soviet role in WWII

Russia on Sunday accused the United States of downplaying the Soviet Union's role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II, with Moscow seeking "a serious conversation" on the matter with US counterparts.

"We are extremely indignant at the attempt to distort the effect… of our country's decisive contribution," Russia's foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.

A White House statement on Facebook this week, to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, only mentioned the United States and Britain as victors over the Nazis.

"American officials have neither the courage nor the will to pay homage to the undeniable role and the huge death toll suffered by the Red Army and the Soviet people in the name of all humanity," the Russian statement continued.

Calling the US statement "particularly petty," Moscow urged Washington not to make the memory of 1945 "a new problem for bilateral relations, which are already going through a difficult time".

The history of World War II is a very sensitive one in post-Soviet Russia which is seeking to rebuild its prestige and power under President Vladimir Putin.

There were some 27 million deaths on the Soviet side during the war.

Moscow also accuses Western Europe, Poland and Ukraine of minimising its role in the conflict.

Russia marked the 75th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe in more modest fashion than normal on Saturday, due to the coronavirus pandemic, scrapping the normal large-scale military parade which attracts thousands of people onto the streets.