Russian President Vladimir V. Putin on Wednesday called Mikhail S. Gorbachev “a politician and statesman who had a great impact on the course of world history,” delivering a conciliatory message about the last leader of the Soviet Unionlegacy of openness that he spent years in power trying to reverse.
In a brief telegram of condolences to the family of Mr. Gorbachev published At the Kremlin the day after his death, the Russian leader said that Mr. Gorbachev “led our country in a time of dramatic, complex change” and offered “words of sympathy and support for our country.” sincere support”.
Putin’s first public comments about Gorbachev’s death were a stark contrast to his policies, which sought to erase much of his predecessor’s legacy of personal freedoms. human and political. Mr. Putin has also called the end of the Soviet Union – which Mr. Gorbachev presided over – “the greatest geopolitical disaster of the century”, and is now waging a war in Ukraine to retake what he has lost. considered Russia lost, a war of possibilities that Mr. Gorbachev once dismissed as “absurd.”
Mr. Gorbachev “deeply understood that reform was necessary, he tried to come up with his own solutions to pressing problems,” Putin said, noting “humanitarian, philanthropic work and great education” by Mr. Gorbachev’s wife, Raisa.
The condolence letter allows Mr. Putin to emerge as a statesman above the political conflict, but it is clear that Mr. Gorbachev will not be revered by the Kremlin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov said that the form of Mr. Gorbachev’s funeral – whether it will receive state titles, for example – has yet to be determined and will depend on the wishes of the family. his family, according to the Interfax news agency.
In contrast, on the day in 2007 when Mr. Gorbachev’s successor, Boris N. Yeltsin, died, Mr. Putin, his successor, declare a day of national mourning on the day of his funeral. The ceremony was televised live on state television and the removal of Mr Yeltsin’s coffin was accompanied by a standing ovation.
On Wednesday, Gorbachev’s daughter Irina told Interfax news agency that her father’s funeral would take place on Saturday, in the grand lobby of the Union Building in Moscow.
Surrounded by white Corinthian columns, the grand hall was the site of many high-ranking ceremonies, including the funerals of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and other Soviet leaders. Mr. Gorbachev will be buried next to his wife at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, his daughter said.
Peskov said that the Kremlin was not sure if Putin would attend the ceremony. In comments reported by Interfax, Peskov was more outspoken than Putin about Gorbachev, calling him “an extraordinary and unique person” and labeling him a “romantic” who naively believes a post-Soviet Russia could be your friend. with the West.
“Gorbachev made the call to end the Cold War and sincerely believed that it would end and there would be an eternal period of romance between the new Soviet Union and the world and the West,” Peskov said.
“That romanticism didn’t work out,” Peskov continued. “The bloodlust of our opponents has shown itself and it’s good that we recognized and understood it in time.”
Since his early days in the Kremlin, Putin has worked hard to undo Gorbachev’s signature policies such as glasnost, which means open and transparent government, and free discussion of his work. government.
However, Mr. Putin was careful never to condemn Mr. Gorbachev’s entire legacy, arguing that he must preside over an irreparable Soviet system. For his part, Mr. Gorbachev has never criticized Putin to the point of questioning his legitimacy as Russia’s ruler.
In ill health in the last months of his life, Mr. Gorbachev said nothing publicly about Putin’s war in Ukraine. The son of a Ukrainian mother and a Russian father, Mr. Gorbachev shares Putin’s view that Ukraine should be in Russia’s orbit, once told a journalist: “It may not be a scientific fact, but we are the same people.” He Support Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, but told a Siberian news agency that the worst could be avoided.
“A war between Russia and Ukraine – this is absurd,” he said.
Two days after Putin’s invasion in February, his Gorbachev Foundation, an institute that “seeks to promote democratic values”, released a statement calling for a “swift end to the actions hostilities” and “immediately commence peace negotiations”.
