Putin dismantles ‘naive’ Gorbachev’s legacy of freedom
Russian president has taken country in opposite direction to late Soviet leader who died this week
Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of Moscow political consultancy R.Politik, said that, in Putin’s mind, he was simply correcting Gorbachev’s mistakes.
“Putin thinks Gorbachev was too naive with the west and allowed the Soviet Union to collapse. He thinks a smarter, stronger, tougher geopolitical line could have stopped it,” she added. He viewed Gorbachev as a “weak politician who could not prevent the ‘catastrophe’”, as Putin described the Soviet Union’s collapse, she explained. “For Putin this is yet another event that shows he is on the right side of history.”
“Putin thinks Gorbachev was too naive with the west and allowed the Soviet Union to collapse. He thinks a smarter, stronger, tougher geopolitical line could have stopped it,” she added. He viewed Gorbachev as a “weak politician who could not prevent the ‘catastrophe’”, as Putin described the Soviet Union’s collapse, she explained. “For Putin this is yet another event that shows he is on the right side of history.”
