Putin says Gorbachev had 'huge impact' on world history; Kremlin says he was wrong about 'bloodthirsty' West

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid tributes to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who passed away on Tuesday (August 30) aged 91. In a Telegram, Putin wrote that Gorbachev had had a "huge impact on the course of world history".

Putin said Gorbachev "deeply understood that reforms were necessary" and offered his own solutions to the problems faced by the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

In a statement released from the Kremlin, Putin said, "Mikhail Gorbachev was a politician and statesman who had a huge impact on the course of world history."

Putin expressed his "deepest condolences" to Gorbachev's friends and family.

Putin added, "He led our country during a period of complex, dramatic changes, large-scale foreign policy, economic and social challenges. He deeply understood that reforms were necessary, he strove to offer his own solutions to urgent problems."

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Meanwhile, Kremlin said Gorbachev had been badly wrong about the prospect of rapprochement with the "bloodthirsty" West and said that his romanticism about the West was not justified.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesperson, described Gorbachev as an extraordinary statesman who had helped end the Cold War but whose role in history was controversial.

Peskov said, "He sincerely wanted to believe that the Cold War would end, and that it would usher in a period of eternal romance between a new Soviet Union and the world, the West."

"This romanticism turned out to be wrong. There was no romantic period, a 100-year honeymoon did not materialise, and the bloodthirsty nature of our opponents showed itself. It's good that we realised this in time and understood it," added Peskov.

(With inputs from agencies)

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