Putin rejects claims that Nazi-Soviet pact sparked WWII

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin today rejected claims that a 1939 Nazi-Soviet pact sparked World War II at ceremonies in Poland marking the 70th anniversary of the war's outbreak.

"In Russia, we see constant, persistent attempts to make it seem that World War II was made possible solely by the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact," Putin said during a press conference with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk in Gdansk, northern Poland.

"Why throw these false facts into the public consciousness and then speculate on them in domestic politics? This is the worst thing we could do," he said.

In the August 23, 1939 Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Treaty, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, Berlin and Moscow secretly agreed the partition of Poland between them following Germany's September 1, 1939 attack on Poland.

"Everything that led to the tragedy of of September 1, 1939 must be studied so it will never be repeated again," Putin added.

Putin quoted several agreements preceding the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, which in his opinion, paved the way to the outbreak of World War II, including the 1938 Munich agreement that France and Britain signed with Germany.

He also pointed to Nazi Germany's partial annexation and dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in 1938-39 and a 1934 Polish-German non-aggression pact.