Russia and the Western nations need to conduct serious scientific research and engage in a mutually respectful dialogue on problematic questions of history, the director of the Washington-based Kennan Institute, Matthew Rojansky, has told TASS.

"I can say that many questions of history relating to how the Second World War began are seen very differently by most historians in the West from the way they were presented in the article," Rojansky said when asked to comment on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s article about the history of World War II.

"To the extent that history and historical memory are shaping current political and security relations, this is an important problem, and one that should continue to be the subject of serious, scholarly research, and also dialogue conducted in a manner that respects differences of perspective between Russia and the West, but also seeks to establish fundamental and widely agreed facts wherever possible," the expert continued. "We have a long way to go on this."

He also supported the Russian president’s initiative to hold a summit of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, but, in his opinion, practical agreements are unlikely to be achieved during the meeting due to a broad range of issues on the agenda and differences among the sides.

"However, on the issue of the Coronavirus pandemic, it is likely that all states will continue to face severe public health and economic challenges, and could benefit from greater and more consistent cooperation," he added. "I hope that if a summit occurs, this would be at the top of the agenda."

Russian President Vladimir Putin published an article about WWII-related events in the National Interest magazine on Thursday. A section of the article was devoted to lessons of the Second World War and international cooperation issues.