A senior member of Russia’s lower house of parliament on Monday called U.S. President Donald Trump “weak” for downplaying the Soviet Union’s role in World War II.
Trump claimed over the weekend that Allied powers were “not even close” to defeating Nazi Germany before the United States intervened in the conflict. He made those comments in a Truth Social post where he urged Ukraine to accept Russia’s proposal for direct peace talks.
“I’m not bothered by Trump because it seems he’s weak in history. And self-promotion using others’ victories is a sign of weakness,” Andrei Kartapolov, chair of the State Duma’s defense committee, told pro-government media.
Kartapolov is the latest Russian official to accuse Trump of exaggerating America’s role in WWII. Earlier this month, Trump claimed the U.S. “did more than any other country” during the war.
In his Victory Day speech on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned what he called efforts to “distort” WWII history and “slander its real winners.” Putin has long framed the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany as a central source of national pride and unity.
Since launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he has portrayed the Russian military as the Red Army’s successor and framed the war as a fight against “Nazism.”
In his Truth Social Post, Trump wrote that Putin was “too busy celebrating the Victory of World War II” to respond to Ukraine’s 30-day ceasefire proposal, which the United States itself first suggested in March.
Trump recently declared May 8 as WWII Victory Day and renamed Veterans Day on Nov. 11 as WWI Victory Day.
“We won both Wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance, but we never celebrate anything,” Trump had said. “We are going to start celebrating our victories again!”
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