Russia Asks US to Reject Germany's Plan to Build Europe's Strongest Army

JAKARTA - The Russian Ambassador to the US, Alexander Darchiev, urged Washington to reject Germany's plan to build the strongest European army.

"This is a dangerous plan that must be jointly opposed by Russia, the US, and well-intentioned people on our small planet that uphold human values in general," Darchiev said, quoted by ANTARA from Sputnik, Friday, May 8.

He made the statement at an event at the embassy to commemorate the day of victory in the war against Nazi Germany.

He stressed that German politicians are currently devising plans to "move to the East" and form the strongest army in Europe, instead of repenting for ever.

Darchiev noted that in Russia, denial of genocide against Soviet people has been criminalized.

"Given the 'genocide of the Soviet people', which the Nazis carried out in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union, now denied in Europe, especially in the country of origin of World War II, on April 19, the denial was declared a crime in Russia by the court," the diplomat said.

"The Red Army, or the Soviet Army, won a great victory that saved mankind from enslavement and annihilation by the German-Japanese Axis of Evil, achieved at a very high price - 27 million Soviet lives, including 17 million civilians," he continued.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump said in their joint statement in 2020, the fight against a common enemy is the pinnacle and a real example of the Russian-American partnership, added Darchiev.

"The historic handshake between Red Army soldiers and US soldiers on the Elbe river right in the center of Nazi Germany on April 25, 1945, will always be a symbol of that," the diplomat said.

Previously in April, Germany for the first time in its history officially approved a military strategy.

The document sets a goal to create the strongest army in Europe by 2039.

Russia is defined in the strategy as a "major threat."