US helped win WWII, but for Washington it was all business — Kremlin

Department of Research, Studies and International News 23-01-2025

“The main burden in the fight against fascism and the biggest price for the victory in the fight against fascism was paid by our country, the Soviet Union,” Dmitry Peskov stressed

The USSR paid the highest price to defeat fascism during World War II, and yes, the US helped, but for them it was all business, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Commenting on US President Donald Trump’s call not to forget that Russia “helped the United States” win World War II, the spokesman said: “The main burden in the fight against fascism and the biggest price for the victory in the fight against fascism was paid by our country, the Soviet Union.” “The US did indeed help. It made a significant contribution. But there’s one caveat: America always makes money, for America it’s always about business,” Peskov emphasized.

The spokesman drew a parallel to what is going on today: “Now the United States, by helping Ukraine, is making money by selling its expensive energy resources to the Europeans,” and this money is not going directly to Kiev. Instead, it is used to fund contracts for America’s defense industry, to help its own economy by creating new taxes, jobs, and developing technologies. “So, however you slice it, it is a successful business,” Peskov pointed out.

The Kremlin spokesman pointed to the fact that when Russian President Vladimir Putin took office, he ended US lend-lease payments to the United States for aid provided during World War II. “This was also business,” Peskov summarized.

Earlier, Trump wrote on his Truth Social page that the US should never forget “that Russia helped us win the Second World War, losing almost 60,000,000 lives in the process.” In the same post, he noted that he has good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has a fondness for the Russian people.

The Soviet Union suffered the heaviest losses in World War II. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Soviet Union’s total irrecoverable losses were 26.6 million people, of which about 18 million were civilians and about 8.7 million were military servicemen. That includes 1 million Soviet soldiers and officers that gave their lives for the liberation of Europe.