MOSCOW. March 20 (Interfax) - State Duma Speaker, Russian Historical Society Chairman Sergei Naryshkin has urged Western partners to study the history of the Russian Federation in a more attentive manner.
"The inappropriate foreign reaction to the events in Ukraine, Crimea, derives to a large extent from the hypocritical position of some of our Western partners alongside the West's poor knowledge of our history," Naryshkin said at a joint meeting of the Russian Historical Society and the Culture Council under the State Duma Speaker.
"Therefore, I appeal to historians; people in other countries should know the history of our state better," Naryshkin pointed out.
Before the meeting started, the State Duma speaker visited the A. Pushkin Museum and familiarized himself with the manifesto on the accession of the Crimean Peninsula signed by Catherine II in 1783.
"Some 230 years have passed but the history largely repeats itself at the new stage of development," he said.
In Naryshkin's words, both the treaty the State Duma will consider on Thursday and the manifesto of Catherine II declare that people of Crimea will enjoy equal rights with Russian subjects. The manifesto backed cultural and religious traits of the Crimean population.
"The Crimea-Russia reunion is a truly historic event; this is a turning moment in history and in the confrontation between good and evil. That happened 230 years ago, this happens again now," Naryshkin said.