Putin seeks to oppose revision of WWII results in Poland

MOSCOW, August 31 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
begins his visit to Gdansk, Poland, on Monday to take part in the events
devoted to the 70th anniversary of the beginning of World War II on
September 1.
He will meet with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk and other
top-ranking officials.
"The visit's goal is the first attempt within the global context to
oppose revision of WW II results," said Yuri Ushakov, the deputy head of
the government staff.
Moreover, on Tuesday the Russian-Polish talks will take place.
According to the two countries' expectations, they should contribute to
promoting bilateral relations.
Ushakov made a supposition that Poland would once again raise the
Katyn issue. However, Russia has no intention to link it with the current
talks.
"Our main message is that the history should not restrain progress in
relations and we will cite as an example Germany, which was our enemy
during WWII. Of course, we will recommend them not to take pages out of
the history textbooks and use them for their own political benefit," he
said.
Ushakov also made clear that the Russian side would not satisfy Poland'
s request to declassify the Katyn files that still contain a secrecy label.
"We have special rules and everything what can be declassified has
already been," he said. "It's a bit illogic to lodge claims with us as
other countries also do not declassify everything. The "We have special
rules and everything what can be declassified has already been," he said.
"It's a bit illogic to lodge claims with us as other countries also do not
declassify everything. The British-Polish relations also do have some
pages closed. I do not think that a compromise can be found on this
ground."
Ushakov considers it necessary "to transfer this theme to the mutual
expression of regret and understanding of the tragedy without raking up
concrete details that hamper further cooperation."
Moreover, the politician believes that a majority of Polish
politicians agree with Russia's position. "Part of the establishment wants
to improve relations with Russia, which is proved by the fact that from
the very beginning, when the talk about a visit to Gdansk was launched, we
began to plan a working visit," he said. "There will be many leaders and
only we will conduct bilateral talks."
"Three documents have already been prepared for signing - agreements
on shipping in Kaliningrad Bay and on the export of spent nuclear fuel to
Russia as well as a protocol on cooperation between the two countries'
culture ministries," Ushakov said.
On September 1, Putin's schedule is expected to be much busier than
that at the G8 and the APEC summits during his presidency. The prime
minister is scheduled to meet with his six counterparts - Ukraine's Yulia
Timoshenko, the Netherlands' Jan Peter Balkenende, Bulgaria's Boiko
Borisov, Finland's Matti Vanhanen, Slovenia's Borut Pahor and Croatia's
Jadranka Kosor.
Putin will have his first meeting with Bulgaria's new head of
government. Boiko Borisov, who earlier did not rule out his country's
withdrawal from joint projects with Russia, expressed readiness for a
constructive dialogue.
"He expressed intention to hear the opinions of Russian Energy
Minister Sergei Shmatko and the chief of the nuclear power corporation
Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, on the projects' details," Ushakov said.
"This will be a tense day of political and diplomatic work," he said
expressing the hope that "sharp corners" will be avoided on that day.
"This is such a big event - 70 years ago the war began : in this
constructive mood the Polish authorities and other countries plan to hold
this event," Ushakov concluded.

-0-isk/