For his part, Putin, who was serving in the KGB in East Germany during Gorbachev’s tenure, has made it clear over the years that he saw the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in Europe as humiliating for Russia.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a comparison between the two men that was unpleasant for Putin, expressing his admiration for Gorbachev’s role in ending the Cold War.
“At the time of Putin’s aggression against Ukraine, [Gorbachev’s] “A relentless commitment to the openness of Soviet society remains an example to all of us,” Johnson said.
Other leaders have compared Putin and Gorbachev in messages of condolence. Senator Patrick Leahy, who met Gorbachev in both Russia and the United States, described him as a “bold leader who was not afraid to face reality.”
Leahy said that Gorbachev “will never be a war criminal like Putin.”
“Gorbachev’s absence looms large amid Putin’s unjustified bloody war in Ukraine,” Senator Jane Shaheen (DNH) said.
On Twitter after his death, praised Not only for Gorbachev’s loved ones, but also for leaders of the Russian pro-democracy opposition including Alexei Navalny.
Elsewhere in the United States, Representative Dean Phillips (D-Minnesota) reported that he stopped his car on the Minneapolis highway in 1990, when Gorbachev’s motorcade passed.
“It looks like a new, more peaceful and promising world is on the horizon,” Phillips said. “I mourn his death and his courage, as I do in a country he has tried so hard to reform.”
Former Secretary of State James Baker III, one of the last surviving world leaders from the Gorbachev era, told Reuters: “Mikhail Gorbachev will be remembered by history as a giant who led his great nation toward democracy. He played a critical role in the peaceful conclusion of the Cold War with his decision against the use of force to hold together. Empire.”
European leaders honored Gorbachev as the leader who brought an end to Russian domination of Eastern Europe, creating an era of stability that lasted largely until the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen celebrated Gorbachev’s legacy at “Bringing[ing] down the iron curtain. He opened the way for a free Europe.”
Also in Europe, Irish Prime Minister Michel Martin said he was “sad” about Gorbachev’s death.
“His sense of history and his commitment to openness, reform, and building bridges with the West, changed the world,” Martin wrote on Twitter.
French President Emmanuel Macron wrote in French that Gorbachev was a “man of peace” and “changed our common history.”
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss – the front-runner for the next British prime minister – also praised Gorbachev’s work with the West.
“Now more than ever, this legacy of cooperation and peace must prevail,” Truss said.
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