WARSAW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st September, 2019) Warsaw did not invite Russia to the commemorative events on occasion of the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II for the sake of "historical truth," Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Andrzej Szynkowski vel Sek claimed.
In an interview with the Radiomaryja station, Szynkowski vel Sek said that it was the modern agenda that determined the list of those invited, among which there are nations from the European Union, NATO and the Eastern Partnership. Russia, he noted, does not belong to any of these formats.
"In addition, it is difficult to turn a blind eye to the current position of the Russian Federation. We want to commemorate this tragic anniversary in the spirit of historical truth," he added.
On September 1, Poland commemorates the beginning of WWII. Warsaw invited its current allies, including Germany and the United States, to the commemorative events, but has decided to leave Russia out.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that any such commemorative events in any country of the world cannot be considered meaningful without Russia's participation.
World War II began with Nazi Germany invading Poland on September 1, 1939. On September 17, after the Polish government had left the country, the Red Army crossed the country's eastern border, which ultimately divided Poland in two parts, with one of them controlled by Germany, and the other, namely modern territories of western Belarus and western Ukraine, by the Soviet Union.
Before that, back in 1938, Warsaw, which along with the United Kingdom and France let Adolf Hitler occupy Czechoslovakia, refused to enter an anti-German coalition and provide the Soviet Union with a transit corridor to defend Czechoslovakia, fearing the USSR's growing military power.
Several years afters, hundreds of thousands of the Soviet Red Army servicemen died in the fighting to liberate Poland from Nazi invaders.
