Mikhail Gorbachev ‘shocked and bewildered’ by Putin’s war in Ukraine, translator claims | World News
His interpreter said Mikhail Gorbachev was “shocked and bewildered” by Russia’s war with Ukraine in the months before his death.
Pavel Palazhchenko served as the former Soviet leader’s interpreter for 37 years and spoke to him on the phone just a few weeks ago. Died August 30.
As a serious critic of Vladimir PutinMr. Palazhchenko said that his former boss was puzzled by the Kremlin’s deteriorating relationship with Kyiv.
Speaking to Reuters, he said: “It’s not just the operation that started on February 24, but the whole development of relations between Russia and Ukraine over the years is really, really a blow. big for him.
“It really crushed him emotionally and psychologically.
“We were very clear in our conversations with him that he was shocked and confused by what was happening for all sorts of reasons.
“He not only believes in the closeness of the people of Russia and Ukraine, he also believes that the two countries are merging.”
The Kremlin on Thursday said Mr. Putin will not attend Mr. Gorbachev’s funeral due to a conflict in his “work schedule”.
Vladimir Putin pays his respects to Mr. Gorbachev at the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow
Image of him placing flowers by the open coffin of the late president on Thursday.
After easing tensions with the United States and allegedly helping to end the Cold War, Mr. Gorbachev’s foreign policy strategy is almost the opposite of Putin’s.
The late leader supported the anti-Putin movement after the election was rigged in 2011.
Mr. Gorbachev also criticized Putin’s decision to return to the Kremlin for a third term in 2012.
The incumbent president responded by accusing the former Soviet president of “abdicating” from power.
A year later, Mr. Gorbachev said of Russia and Putin: “Politics is increasingly turning into an imitation of democracy. All power is in the hands of the rulers and the president.
“The economy is monopolized. Corruption is very large.”
Mr. Pavel Palazhchenko with his memoirs about his years with Mr. Gorbachev in 1997
Gorbachev-Ukraine relations are complicated by views on Crimea
Despite his apparent distaste for war, Mr. Gorbachev’s relationship with Ukraine was far from simple.
In 2016, Kyiv banned him after he told The Sunday Times he would do the same as Mr. Putin in illegally annexing Crimea.
“I have always supported the free will of the people and most in Crimea want to be reunited with Russia,” he told the newspaper.
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Gorbachev’s Life and Legacy
Mr. Palazhchenko, 73, is still in regular contact with Mr. Gorbachev and his daughter Irina, saying the relationship was made difficult by the fact that he still trusted the Soviet Union – even though it fell apart in 1991.
“In his heart, of course, the kind of mental map for him and for most of his political generation is still some kind of imaginary country that includes much of the Soviet Union,” he said. old.
But when asked if Mr. Gorbachev would invade Ukraine, he replied: “Of course I can’t imagine him saying ‘this is it, and I will do anything to impose it’, no. .”
