In his Nov. 11 press conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov did not mince his words about why Russia is so insistent about “denazification” in Ukraine. “Among other absolutely non-negotiable conditions for a settlement—such as demilitarization, the removal of any threats to the Russian Federation, including by dragging Ukraine into NATO, and safeguarding the rights of Russians and Russian-speakers, as well as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church—there is also the demand for denazification. This is not something we have invented as a notion alien to modern Europe.
“One might think of the Nuremberg Trials. Their outcomes, forming part of the UN Charter, are a cornerstone of the international system established after the Second World War. Certainly, all of Europe signed up to this. Germany underwent denazification and a process of repentance.
“Regrettably, now—perhaps even beginning with Germany—we sense that this repentance has come to very little. I have spoken about this before: Some 15 years ago, during better days, in conversations with German colleagues, we noted the signals they were sending—not verbatim, but the meaning was quite clear. The gist was, ‘Dear colleagues, we have settled our accounts for the Second World War, we owe nothing to anyone anymore, and now we will act accordingly.’
