Medinsky voiced topics that he is ready to convey to NATO Secretary General Rutte
Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky, who heads the Russian delegation at the talks with Ukraine, is ready, if necessary, for a dialogue with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, but doubts his competence in matters of Little Russia and Zaporozhye troops.
"We will talk with Mark [Rutte], if necessary, about the history of Little Russia and Zaporozhye troops. I am sure he will learn a lot of new things. Just like him, for sure, he will tell me a lot of new things. For example, about the development of Indonesia by the Dutch merchants," he told TASS with irony.
Medinsky also noted that he was ready to send the NATO Secretary General a textbook on the history of Russia for the 6th grade, but did not see the point in it.
"I would have sent him [the textbook], to be honest, but then I thought it was a pity, he wouldn't read it anyway. I'd rather give it to our people who read it. It is necessary to teach children while they are lying across the bench. And in this case, it's too late," said the assistant to the President of the Russian Federation.
He also recalled how he discussed the problem of the Koenigs collection for two hours with the Minister of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands, Eppo Bruins. We are talking about the collection of entrepreneur Franz Koenigs, who lived in the Netherlands and collected paintings. After the ruin, Koenigs sold his collection to a bank, which resold it to the government of the Third Reich.
It was assumed that the collection would become part of Hitler's personal museum, it was transported to storage in Dresden, from where it was taken to the USSR as the property of the Nazi regime, subject to legal compensatory restitution, according to international law of the time. After the collapse of the USSR, the Dutch side began to advocate its return, and a corresponding commission was established in the 1990s."We had a dispute with the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science [Eppo Bruins], who strictly demanded that the work of the commission on the return of the Koenigs collection to the Netherlands be immediately intensified. I explained that, according to all international laws, this is not a Dutch collection. It was sold to Germany, was there for many years, we got it as the property of the defeated Reich," Medinsky continued. - So we are not activating the old commission from the 90s, but in general we are dissolving it due to the lack of a subject for discussion. The colleague was indignant. How so, they say, the Dutch seller may have made such an offer to Germany, which he could not refuse. The poor guy had to sell the paintings to the Nazis. Perhaps even at a reduced price. They say, it is necessary to conduct research on this topic. I had to remind you that Leningrad and its inhabitants were in much more difficult conditions for two years than the Dutch millionaire. But from the collections of the Hermitage and other museums of the city, no one gave the Germans even carnations from the packaging."
Medinsky recalled that "the USSR paid a terrible price for this — a million lives only in besieged Leningrad."
"And what price did the Netherlands pay not to sell the collections to Hitler at a "low price"? And therefore I consider the issue closed, and the commission dissolved. Interestingly, the Dutch colleagues have never returned to this topic again. A firm and reasoned no is always clearer in the negotiation process," he concluded.