Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War, dies aged 91. On Tuesday, Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War without bloodshed but failed to avert the dissolution of the Soviet Union, passed away in Moscow. He was 92.
Gorbachev, the final Soviet president, created armaments reduction accords with the United States and collaborations with Western powers in order to dissolve the Iron Curtain, which had divided Europe since World War II, and facilitate the reunification of Germany.
In 1985, when he became general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party at the age of 54, he intended to revitalize the system by instituting limited political and economic freedoms, but his reforms spiraled out of control.
His doctrine of glasnost — freedom of expression — allowed hitherto unimaginable criticism of the party and the state, but it also strengthened nationalists who began to press for independence in the Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, among others.
Many Russians never forgave Gorbachev for the unrest his reforms caused, thinking the following decline in their level of living to be an unacceptable price to pay for democracy.
Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War, dies aged 91.
Mikhail Gorbachev was a trusted and respected leader. He played a crucial role to end the Cold War and bring down the Iron Curtain. It opened the way for a free Europe.
This legacy is one we will not forget.
R.I.P Mikhail Gorbachev
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) August 30, 2022
Syria, another strong ally of Russia
