Medvedev: Don't blame us for WWII

MOSCOW: Russia's president defended Moscow's role in World War II before the 70th anniversary of its outbreak, saying in an interview broadcast on Sunday that anyone who lays equal blame on the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany is telling a "cynical lie."

Dmitry Medvedev's remarks were the latest salvo in Russia's bitter dispute with its neighbors over the war and its aftermath. The Kremlin has launched a campaign for acceptance of its portrayal of the Soviet Union as Europe's liberator.

But Eastern Europe, gratitude for the Nazi defeat is diluted by bitterness over the decades of postwar Soviet dominance.