Resources and Territory: Putin repeats by Hitler and wants the same thing from Ukraine - historian Snyder (video)

To spread: the struggle for Ukraine was the main cause of World War II. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin saw in it a major role in the modernization of the USSR, and the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler watched the experiment. This opinion was expressed by American historian, professor at Yale University Timothy Snyder, speaking online at the 17th Kyiv Security Forum, Focus correspondent reports. Both dictators were well aware of the fertility of Ukrainian black earths.

"The main idea of ​​the Germans was that they could capture the same territory that Stalin wanted. When Germany attacked the USSR in 1941, the main purpose of the Germans was to control Ukraine," he said. Snyder is convinced that the Kremlin has people who wanted to use the Second World War as a reason to restore fascism. "There are even those who consider the German attack in 1941 to justify the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and earlier-in 2014," he adds.

The professor mentioned the significant contribution of the Ukrainians to victory in World War II. The Russian authorities prefer not to mention this fact and in every way rewrite history. According to him, Ukraine plays a central role in the security of Europe. Its sovereignty and ability to defend themselves should be considered as an opportunity to lay the "cornerstone of the European project".

"The bright future [EU] is extremely closely related to the existence of this Ukrainian cornerstone," the professor emphasized. The territory north of the Black Sea, according to it, will be critical in terms of security in the next thousand years. The geographical location and set of resources of the region play an important role.