World leaders mourn Mikhail Gorbachev as rare figure who changed the world

The passing of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has been mourned internationally as the loss of a rare leader who changed the world and, for a time, boosted hopes for peace between the superpowers.

But the man who died at age 91 on Tuesday was also reviled by many of his countrymen who blamed him for the 1991 implosion of the Soviet Union and its diminution as a superpower.

The Russian nation that emerged from its Soviet past shrank in size as 15 new nations were created.

US President Joe Biden said of Mr Gorbachev: “After decades of brutal political repression, he embraced democratic reforms. He believed in glasnost and perestroika – openness and restructuring – not as mere slogans, but as the path forward for the people of the Soviet Union after so many years of isolation and deprivation.”

Mr Biden added: “These were the acts of a rare leader – one with the imagination to see that a different future was possible and the courage to risk his entire career to achieve it. The result was a safer world and greater freedom for millions of people.”

Mr Gorbachev won the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the Cold War, but although widely feted abroad, he was a pariah at home.

“He led the country during difficult and dramatic changes, amid large-scale foreign policy, economic and social challenges,” Mr Putin said in a short telegram sending his condolences to Mr Gorbachev’s family.

Mr Gorbachev “realised that reforms were necessary and tried to offer his solutions to the acute problems,” Mr Putin said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described Mr Gorbachev as an “extraordinary” statesman who will “always remain in the country’s history”.

“Gorbachev has given an impulse to ending the Cold War and he sincerely wanted to believe that it will be over and a new romantic period will start between the renewed Soviet Union and the collective West,” Mr Peskov said.

“Those romantic expectations failed to materialise. The bloodthirsty nature of our opponents has come to light, and it’s good that we realised that in time.”

Reactions from Russian officials and lawmakers were mixed overall. They applauded Mr Gorbachev for his part in ending the Cold War but censured him for the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Oleg Morozov, a member of the main Kremlin party, United Russia, said Mr Gorbachev should have “repented” for mistakes that went against Russia’s interests.

“He was a willing or an unwilling co-author of the unfair world order that our soldiers are now fighting on the battlefield,” Mr Morozov said, in a reference to the current war in Ukraine.

World figures paid tribute to a man some described as a great and brave leader.

French President Emmanuel Macron described Mr Gorbachev as “a man of peace whose choices opened up a path of liberty for Russians. His commitment to peace in Europe changed our shared history”.

German leaders praised Mr Gorbachev for paving the way for their country’s reunification.

“We will not forget that perestroika made it possible to try to establish democracy in Russia and that democracy and freedom became possible in Europe, that Germany could be united and the Iron Curtain disappeared,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters.

But Mr Scholz also pointed out that Mr Gorbachev had died at a time when many of his achievements had been destroyed.

“We know that he died at a time when not only democracy in Russia has failed — there is no other way to describe the current situation there — but also Russia and Russian President Putin are drawing new trenches in Europe and have started a horrible war against a neighbouring country, Ukraine,” he said.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who was part of the Spanish government when the Iron Curtain fell, remembered Mr Gorbachev as a man who “sent a wind of freedom through Russian society. He tried to change the communist system from inside, which became impossible”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called him “a one-of-a kind statesman who changed the course of history” and “did more than any other individual to bring about the peaceful end of the Cold War”.

He added: “The world has lost a towering global leader, committed multilateralist, and tireless advocate for peace.”

Mr Guterres quoted Mr Gorbachev’s observation in his 1990 Nobel Peace Prize speech that “peace is not unity in similarity but unity in diversity”.

“He put this vital insight into practice by pursuing the path of negotiation, reform, transparency and disarmament,” the UN chief said.

China’s government recognised Mr Gorbachev’s role in healing relations between Moscow and Beijing. Mr Gorbachev had been an inspiration to reformist thinkers in China during the late 1980s, and his visit to Beijing in 1989 marked a watershed moment in relations between the sides.

“Mr Gorbachev made positive contributions to the normalisation of relations between China and the Soviet Union. We mourn his passing and extend our sympathies to his family,” foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said.

But China’s Communist Party leaders also regard Mr Gorbachev’s liberal approach as a fatal display of weakness and his moves toward peaceful coexistence with the West as a form of surrender.