“The Russian foreign ministry may have – as always – several possible goals. Firstly, it is attempting to show that Russia does not interfere with the clearing of archives, as it is claimed (because it has not been in the archives, it is not about Gulag, etc.),” said Kalev Stoicescu, research fellow at the International Centre for Defense and Security, analyzing the Russian foreign ministry’s recent first publication of copies of original documents from the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and its secret protocol in daily Postimees.
“Secondly, they are referring to history and convincing the Western world that cooperation with the Kremlin is inevitable, and that avoidance – no matter what crimes Russia is being reproached for – leads to a catastrophe. Thirdly, it is emphasised that Russia will always win and all wars they’ve had are always fair – including continuing aggression against Ukraine, ” Stoicescu writes.
Read the opinion piece in full length in Estonian in Postimees (published on June 9th) at https://arvamus.postimees.ee/6703336/kalev-stoicescu-venemaa-peab-oma-sumboleid-puhaks-religioos-fanatanism