Polish, Russian Prime Ministers Tust, Putin Call for Mutual Understanding in Bilateral Ties

2009-09-01 21:36:30

    WARSAW, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) --

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin backed closer bilateral relations after meeting in Sopot, northern Poland, on Tuesday.

    Tuesday marks the 70th anniversary of Germany's Sept. 1, 1939 invasion of Poland, which started World War II. Putin, among otherworld leaders, came to attend commemorations held in the Polish city of Gdansk.

    Tusk called his meeting with Putin "another step towards building mutual understanding."

    He said Poland is convinced that "wise and honest treatment of truth about the war" will favour good Polish-Russian relations.

    Putin said Russia always had great respect for "Polish soldiers and officers who were the first to oppose the Fascist aggressor in1939."

    Putin called Sept. 1, 1939 "the most horrific date in the history of the entire world."

    "Unfortunately, many wrong steps have been made that led to a full-scale tragedy. Of course, we should understand why such tragedy did happen and, after understanding it, we should continue to go ahead," he said.

    The Russian prime minister also thanked Tusk for his government's efforts to improve bilateral cooperation, especially in economic areas.

    Following the talks, Polish and Russian officials signed several intergovernmental agreements, including one on navigation on the Vistula bay in central Poland.

    The agreements allow for free traffic of Polish ships through the Russian Pilawa straits.

Editor: Anne Tang

Putin calls for less mistrust, prejudice in Polish-Russian relations

2009-08-31 23:54:05  

    WARSAW, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) --

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in an article for Poland's national daily Gazeta Wyborcza on Monday, appealed for "liberation from mistrust and prejudice" in Polish-Russian relations.

    Putin, who will attend World War Two commemorations in Gdansk of Poland on September 1, called the war's September 1, 1939 outbreak "the most tragic date in European and world history."

    Putin's visit comes amid rising tensions between Warsaw and Moscow over their shared history, most notably over the August 1939 pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany that carved up Poland and the Baltic States ahead of the War.

    Putin described the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact as "immoral," but noted that it was not solely responsible for the war's outbreak.

    The beginnings of this most destructive conflict in our history shouldn't be sought only in the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact but also the 1938 Munich Agreement and even the Versailles Treaty, which contained numerous booby-traps," the Russian prime minister said.

    Putin told the Polish newspaper: "Our duty is to remove the burden of distrust and prejudice left from the past in Polish-Russian relations. Our duty is to turn the page and start to write a new one."

    Putin also praised Europe's wartime alliance against Hitler, calling it "a turning point in 20th-century history" and "the beginning of a process which has today led to a safer and mutually loyal Europe."

    Commenting Putin's article, Polish government press spokesman Pawel Gras said that Putin's article rang a different tone with recent Russian publications on WWII.

    "We should wait for Putin's words that he would utter in the course of a face to face meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Tuesday," Gras said. 

Editor: Mu Xuequan