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Putin did condemn the cynical lies that have blurred the truth about the Katyn shootings, adding, however, that it would also be a lie and manipulation to place the blame for these crimes on the Russian people. Russias failure to declare the killings war crimes and allow Polish historians access to all the documents on the massacre has also rankled many Poles. Putin fell short of issuing an official apology, as some in Poland had hoped. In a statement on its Web site, the party said, You can apologize as much as you want about the so-called Soviet guilt, but no one can hide the fact of German responsibility for the shootings of Polish soldiers. Putin on Wednesday for going to Katyn to apologize. Some Russian leaders have continued to deny Soviet responsibility for the murders, even though Russiareleased archival documents in 1992 showing that Stalins Politburo ordered the massacre in March 1940.
I want to believe that the word of truth can bring together two great nations, which have been painfully separated by history, he said. Tusk said he hoped the ceremony on Wednesday would be a first step toward reconciling the conflict over the massacre. Earlier, the Soviet government had suppressed all information about the shootings, placing blame on Nazi soldiers. Only in the waning days of the Soviet Union, half a century later, did Moscow officially acknowledge the countrys role in the Katyn massacre. Germany and the Soviet Union had effectively divided Poland between them as part of the Hitler-Stalin nonaggression pact just before the war began.
The circumstances surrounding the massacre have long been a major source of tension between Poland and Russia, and Wednesdays tribute, held jointly with Donald Tusk, Polands prime minister, appears to be the latest step in an effort by both countries to patch up relations. Putin of Russia, center, took part in a wreath-laying ceremony in the Katyn forest close to the Russian city of Smolensk, where 70 years ago members of the Soviet secret police executed more than 20,000 Polish officers captured after the Soviet Army invaded Poland in 1939. Putin on Wednesday became the first Russian or Soviet leader to join Polish officials in commemorating the anniversary of the murder of thousands of Polish officers by the Soviet Union at the beginning of World War II. Vladimir Putin has claimed victory in Russia's presidential elections, racking up nearly 70 percent of the vote in early returns from balloting in which he was considered a shoo-in for a second term. Vladimir Putin has pledged to open up Russian politics and the media to divergent voices after an election campaign criticized as unfair and one-sided. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. The man tipped to be Russia's next president said Tuesday he wanted incumbent President Vladimir Putin to become the country's next prime minister.