MOSCOW, Jan 18 (Portal) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov received a scathing rebuke from the White House on Wednesday for saying the United States had put together a coalition of European countries to “solve the Russian question” in the same way like Adolf Hitler was looking for a “final solution” to exterminate the European Jews.
“How dare he compare anything to the Holocaust, let alone a war they started,” said White House national security spokesman John Kirby.
Lavrov, who attracted international attention last year for comments about Hitler, said Washington was using the same tactics used by Napoleon and the Nazis when they tried to conquer Europe to destroy Russia.
Using Ukraine as a proxy, he said: “They are waging war against our country with the same task: the ‘final solution’ of the Russian question.”
“Just as Hitler wanted a ‘final solution’ to the Jewish question, now, when you read Western politicians, they clearly say that Russia must suffer a strategic defeat.”
The “Final Solution” was Hitler’s blueprint for the Holocaust, which led to the systematic murder of 6 million Jews and members of other minorities.
Lavrov has previously caused outrage with statements about Hitler. Last May he said the Nazi leader had “Jewish blood,” prompting angry protests from Israel.
“It’s almost so absurd that it’s not worth responding to, apart from the really offensive way he tried to frame us in relation to Hitler and the Holocaust,” Kirby told reporters at a briefing .
Reporting by Portal, Katharine Jackson in Washington; writing by Mark Trevelyan; Edited by Kevin Liffey and Nick Zieminski
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