'Disgusting': Vladimir Putin on Canadian parliament's applause of Nazi veteran

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called the Canadian parliament's standing ovations to honour a Ukrainian war veteran who served in one of Adolf Hitler's Waffen SS units "disgusting" and said it showed Moscow was right to "de-Nazify" Ukraine.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month formally apologised after the speaker of the Canadian House of Commons praised a Nazi veteran in the chamber while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was present. The speaker said he had made a mistake and resigned amid growing outrage.

The episode played into the narrative promoted by Putin that he sent his army into Ukraine last year to "demilitarise and denazify" the country. Kyiv and its Western allies say Russia's actions constitute an unprovoked war of aggression designed to grab territory.

Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, asked about Putin's comments on the matter, said the Russian President should not be allowed to take advantage of what she called a terrible mistake by the former speaker.

"I would really urge all of us to understand that Russian propaganda is real ... and we need to push back very, very hard against everything that Vladimir Putin says and does," she told reporters in Ottawa.

Zelenskiy, who is Jewish, says Moscow's claims that his administration is run by Nazis are absurd.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.