Mikhail Gorbachev altered the course of history, according to the chief of the United Nations, while Boris Johnson lauds his “courage and honesty” and Joe Biden lauds his “extraordinary vision” that “produced a better world.”
Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, led tributes to Mikhail Gorbachev, age 91.
He stated that Gorbachev was an exceptional leader who improved the world.
According to Russian media, the former Soviet leader died following a long illness.
Putin offered his “deepest condolences” for Gorbachev’s passing.
President Biden praised a man with “extraordinary vision” who created “a better world.”
Boris Johnson of the UK was ‘devastated’: I have always respected his bravery and honesty.
Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres has led condolences from world leaders to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who passed away at the age of 91.
Guterres lauded Gorbachev in a statement as “an exceptional leader who improved the world.”
Gorbachev was an exceptional politician who altered the path of history. He contributed more than anyone else to the peaceful end of the Cold War,’ added Guterres.
According to the Central Clinical Hospital of Moscow, the former Soviet leader passed away after a lengthy illness. No other information was provided.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, told reporters, “President Putin extends his deepest condolences on the passing of Mikhail Gorbachev.”
He will send a telegraph of sympathy to his family and friends in the morning.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted, “I am heartbroken to learn of Gorbachev’s passing. I have always appreciated the boldness and honesty he shown in ending the Cold War peacefully.
In the midst of Putin’s aggressiveness in Ukraine, his unwavering dedication to opening up Soviet society remains an inspiration for all of us.
US President Biden praised a man with “extraordinary vision.”
Mikhail Gorbachev, who passed away at the age of 91, was the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted, “I am heartbroken to learn of Gorbachev’s passing. I have always appreciated the boldness and honesty he shown in bringing an end to the Cold War.
The Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute announced that it “mourns the loss of Mikhail Gorbachev, a former political man of Ronald Reagan who became a friend.” Our thoughts and prayers are with the Gorbachev family and the Russian people.”
Amid a deterioration in Russian-Western relations, the funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev may prove problematic.
The funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev is a nightmarish scenario for both the West and Vladimir Putin.
The death of the ex-Soviet leader in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine and the deterioration of relations with the United States and Europe would certainly prevent international leaders and Western elder statesmen from traveling to Moscow to pay their condolences.
Yet, when Boris Yeltsin died in 2007, former U.S. presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton attended his funeral, as did Prince Andrew, then a working royal, and former British prime minister Sir John Major.
In 1985, when Gorbachev’s predecessor in the Kremlin, Konstantin Chernenko, passed away, a large number of Western politicians attended the funeral.
They included the British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and the vice president of the United States, George Bush.
In attendance were also the chancellor of West Germany, Helmut Kohl, the prime minister of Japan, Yasuhiro Nakasone, and the president of Italy, Sandro Pertini.
In the 1980s, Western leaders also attended the funerals of Leonid Brezhnev and Yury Andropov.
During the Cold War, funerals were employed at the time for subtle interactions between east and west.
It is unclear whether Putin will permit a full-scale official funeral for Gorbachev, the former president of the now-defunct USSR.
Neither is it certain whether he will attend as predicted.
Putin held Gorbachev responsible for the demise of the Soviet Union, which he viewed as a tragedy.
For Western leaders, though, Gorbachev is a political titan whose passing should be commemorated.
However, because the West has imposed sanctions on Russia, he is unlikely to want to receive Western leaders who dislike him and enable them to honor Gorbachev in Moscow.
Putin may be concerned about exposing his genuine health status to Western leaders or senior statesmen and women face-to-face at a time when rumors about his medical condition are widespread and his public appearances are seldom and meticulously orchestrated.
Biden continued, “When he arrived to power, the Cold War had lasted nearly four decades, and communism even longer, with disastrous effects.” Few Soviet officials of high rank were willing to admit that things needed to change.
As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I seen him do all of the above and more. As leader of the USSR, he collaborated with President Reagan to lower the nuclear arsenals of our two countries, much to the relief of those praying for an end to the nuclear arms race.
He backed democratic changes following decades of violent political repression. After so many years of isolation and misery, he viewed glasnost and perestroika – openness and reconstruction – not as empty phrases, but as the way ahead for the people of the Soviet Union.
‘These were the actions of a rare leader — one who had the foresight to realize that a different future was possible and the fortitude to jeopardize his entire career in order to accomplish it. The outcome was a safer and more liberated world for millions of people.
Even years after leaving office, he remained actively involved. When Mr. Gorbachev visited the White House in 2009, I had a lengthy conversation about the ongoing efforts of the United States and Russia to reduce their nuclear arsenals. It was evident why so many people around the world held him in such high regard.
We extend our heartfelt sympathies to his family and friends, as well as to all those whose lives were improved by his belief in a better society.
During his seven years in office, Gorbachev fought a losing battle to save a collapsing empire, but he is credited by many with implementing exceptional reforms that contributed to the end of the Cold War.
Margaret Thatcher reportedly said after their first meeting that Gorbachev was a man with whom she “could do business”
Kissinger told BBC’s Newsnight: ‘The people of eastern Europe and the German people, and in the end the Russian people, owe him a real debt of gratitude for the inspiration, for the courage in advancing these notions of freedom.’
Mr. Kissinger, after recognizing for a second time that Mr. Gorbachev was unable to fully implement his vision, added, “He will nevertheless be regarded in history as a man who initiated historic transformations for the good of humanity and the Russian people.”
‘Personally, he was quite charming, very polite, and not particularly political, although coming from a political party of the Soviet Union. In his final years, he endured his seclusion with great dignity.
Russia never reverted to the type of authoritarianism that prevailed during the Stalin era and the years preceding Gorbachev.
‘Even under Putin there are elections that are not Western style elections but they go further than had existed before and the legacy of what he put forward still lingers in all the various opposition groups that exist in Russia and as the Russian system evolves the legacy of Gorbachev will reappear in various forms.’
Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, wrote: “[Gorbachev] will be remembered forever as the final Soviet leader with the bravery and conviction to end the Cold War.”
Ursula Von Der Leyen, president of the EU Commission, remarked, “Mikhail Gorbachev was a trusted and recognized leader.” He was instrumental in ending the Cold War and bringing down the Iron Curtain.
In a tribute, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer wrote: ‘One of the 20th century’s greatest figures, Mikhail Gorbachev paved the way for diplomacy over violence via his pursuit of reform. He will be remembered forever as the final Soviet leader with the bravery and determination to finish the Cold War.
President of the EU Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen posted: ‘Mikhail Gorbachev was a trusted and respected leader. He was instrumental in ending the Cold War and bringing down the Iron Curtain. It paved the path for Europe’s liberation. This legacy is one we will not forget. R.I.P Mikhail Gorbachev.’
French President Emmanuel Macron described Gorbachev as ‘a man of the world, whose choice opened the way to freedom for Russians’.
His devotion to peace in Europe has altered our shared past, he added.
Former US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice wrote: ‘I am saddened to hear of the passing of Mikhail Gorbachev. He was a man who tried to deliver a better life for his people.
‘His life was consequential because, without him and his courage, it would not have been possible to end the Cold War peacefully.’
Former US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice wrote: ‘His life was consequential because, without him and his courage, it would not have been possible to end the Cold War peacefully’
The Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute stated it ‘mourns the loss of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, a man who once was a political adversary of Ronald Reagan’s who ended up becoming a friend.
‘Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Gorbachev family and the people of Russia’
Though in power less than seven years, Gorbachev unleashed a series of pivotal changes. But they quickly overtook him and resulted in the collapse of the authoritarian Soviet state, the freeing of Eastern European nations from Russian domination and the end of decades of East-West nuclear confrontation.
His decline was severe. His power was sapped by an attempted coup against him in August 1991 and he spent his last months in office watching republic after republic declare independence until he resigned on December 25, 1991.
The Soviet Union wrote itself into oblivion a day later.
Journalist Simon Sebag Montefiore said Gorbachev was a ‘stateman who faced the cruel truth of unintended consequences’
‘His death tells us how far Russia has moved away from his vision,’ wrote former UKIP leader Nigel Farage
A quarter-century after the collapse, Gorbachev told The Associated Press that he had not considered using widespread force to try to keep the USSR together because he feared chaos in a nuclear country.
‘The country was loaded to the brim with weapons. And it would have immediately pushed the country into a civil war,’ he said.
Many of the changes, including the Soviet breakup, bore no resemblance to the transformation that Gorbachev had envisioned when he became the Soviet leader in March 1985.
By the end of his rule he was powerless to halt the whirlwind he had sown. Yet Gorbachev may have had a greater impact on the second half of the 20th century than any other political figure.
‘I see myself as a man who started the reforms that were necessary for the country and for Europe and the world,’ Gorbachev told The AP in a 1992 interview shortly after he left office.
‘I am often asked, would I have started it all again if I had to repeat it? Yes, indeed. And with more persistence and determination,’ he said.
Gorbachev won the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the Cold War and spent his later years collecting accolades and awards from all corners of the world. Yet he was widely despised at home.
Russians blamed him for the 1991 implosion of the Soviet Union – a once-fearsome superpower whose territory fractured into 15 separate nations. His former allies deserted him and made him a scapegoat for the country’s troubles.
The official news agency Tass reported that Gorbachev will be buried at Moscow’s Novodevichy cemetery next to his wife.