MOSCOW, April 4 (RIA Novosti) - Head of Germany's Finance Ministry Wolfgang Schauble claims he didn't compare Russia with Hilter Germany in light of Crimea issue, Die Welt reported on Friday.
"I'm not an idiot to compare anyone with Hitler. No German politic would ever do this", the minister said.
Schauble admitted that he mentioned Sudetenland in his speech he delivered in a German school but stressed that he didn't draw any parallels. "I would have apologized if I made such a mistake", he said.
The finance minister also said that Germany is interested in cooperation with Russia. All countries have to work together to stabilize Ukrainian crisis, he added.
Speaking on Monday to a group of students, Schaeuble referred to the arguments used by Russian President Vladimir Putin to justify the reunification with Crimea. Putin cited the need to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine, something Schaeuble said reminded him of Hitler's vows to protect ethnic Germans in the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia in 1938.
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel distanced herself from Schaeuble's comments.
Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement calling Schaeuble's note "provocative".
"Schaeuble's comparisons are a gross manipulation of historic facts", the statement said.
On February 22, a regime change took place in Ukraine. The Ukrainian parliament ousted Yanukovych, changed the constitution and announced early presidential elections for May 25.
Russia has described the uprising in Kiev as an illegitimate fascist coup and a military seizure of power, which resulted in Moscow taking steps to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine. These steps were heavily criticized by the US and EU.
