ISTANBUL

Reacting to a US senator’s comments during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, Russia on Sunday claimed that US investments in Nazi Germany led to World War II and the Holocaust.

“Senator [Lindsey] Graham has something to compare with. One of their investments led to World War II and the Holocaust,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Telegram.

Zakharova listed various US-based people, companies and banks, namely Henry Ford, General Motors, Kodak, Coca-Cola, Standard Oil, IBM and JPMorgan Chase & Co, claiming that they sponsored or assisted Nazi Germany during World War II.

Zakharova further said billions of US dollars are now being transferred to Ukraine, adding: “In this regard, I would like to remind the senators and all American beneficiaries how the previous adventure ended.”

During a meeting with Zelenskyy in the capital Kyiv on Friday, US Senator Lindsey Graham was recorded as saying in a video shared by the Ukrainian president’s Telegram account: “The Russians are dying … Best money we’ve ever spent.”

In a separate statement on Telegram, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also commented on the video, claiming: "In his beloved America, not only ordinary people are regularly killed, but dirty money is also spent on killing senators."

"It's hard to imagine a greater shame for the country (the US) than having such senators," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said during a press briefing.

Neither Graham nor Ukrainian authorities have yet commented on the issue.