Gorbachev, whom liberals regard as a monumental leader, had a complicated relationship with Putin, a highly-popular leader in his country. As a Putin fanboy puts it on Twitter, Russia’s present president is currently “saving the globe from a sick and twisted Liberal Order, and preventing Ukraine from butchering anymore of their own citizens in the Eastern part of the country".
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Gorbachev was more about negotiations and less about throwing missiles. He issued a statement when Russia controversially invaded Ukraine.
“There is nothing more precious in the world than human lives. Negotiations and dialogue on the basis of mutual respect and recognition of interests are the only possible way to resolve the most acute contradictions and problems," Gorbachev said.
Gorbachev initially commended Putin for strengthening the Russian state following the anarchy under Boris Yeltsin, but he quickly became concerned.
“It’s perhaps understandable that during the initial phase he used certain authoritarian methods in his leadership, but using authoritarian methods as a policy for the future – that I think is wrong. I think that’s a mistake," he said in 2011.
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In 2016, he was more open about his criticism of Putin. In an article published in the TIME magazine, he called Putin’s policies “an obstacle to progress". He censured Putin’s decision to run for president for the third time and accused him of “creating an illusion of stability and prosperity".
Outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made an unfavourable comparison between Putin and Gorbachev while praising the latter’s role in ending the Cold War.
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“In a time of Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, (Gorbachev’s) tireless commitment to opening up Soviet society remains an example to us all," he said.
Putin, on his part, has been harshly critical about the fall of the Soviet Union that Gorbachev oversaw.
“First and foremost it is worth acknowledging that the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century," Putin famously said in 2005. “As for the Russian people, it became a genuine tragedy. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens and countrymen found themselves beyond the fringes of Russian territory.
On August 31, Putin offered the late Soviet leader his sincere condolences.
