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The Kremlin says last Soviet leader will only receive ‘elements’ of state funeral

"I like Mr. Gorbachev," British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said in 1984. "We can do business together."

No other person but the final leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev – who has died aged 91 – could bring to life the eternal debate on the role of the individual in history. Does real change happen because of impersonal structural factors, or because of individual choice by…

The whole world has much to thank Mikhail Gorbachev for. As many have pointed out since his death in Moscow earlier this week, Gorbachev – the last leader of the Soviet Union – did more than anyone to bring the Cold War to an end peacefully, reducing the threat that…

The death of Mikhail Gorbachev prompted gushing tributes from across the West on Wednesday but much less of a reaction in Russia. FRANCE 24 examines why Gorbachev is lionised in the West for his role in ending the Cold War, but scorned in Russia for overseeing the collapse of the…

The late Mikhail Gorbachev is praised in the West for helping to end the Cold War and a bipolar world in which Soviet-allied African countries found themselves at the mercy of strategic struggles between Washington and Moscow. Released from the 'bear-hug', some states faired better than others.

Mikhail Gorbachev was a voice of sanity in a crazy cold war world, and his death marks the end of a particular era in 20th century history. During his time as leader of the Soviet Union (1985-1991), Gorbachev brought about enormous change in Russian politics and society, in international relations,…

Mikhail Gorbachev was a contradictory figure; his legacy, complex. Hailed in the West as a democrat and liberator of his people – which he genuinely was – he increasingly became despised by many within Russia for destroying the Soviet Union and dismantling a great power.

Former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind pays tribute to a great statesman