‘It looks like the world is preparing for war’: Gorbachev

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has warned the nuclear threat ‘once again seems real’ and fears ‘it looks like the world is preparing for war’.

The 85-year-old, who oversaw an easing of tensions with the West that helped to end the Cold War in the early 1990s, said reversing a ‘ruinous’ global arms race must be the world’s ‘top priority’.

Gorbachev also urged new US President Donald Trump and current Russian President Vladimir Putin to work together to reduce stocks of nuclear weapons around the world.

In an article for Time Magazine, he wrote that ‘no problem is more urgent today than the militarisation of politics and the new arms race. Stopping and reversing this ruinous race must be our top priority. The current situation is too dangerous.’

His comments come at a time of heightened tensions between Putin and the West over Moscow’s intervention in Syria, the conflict in Ukraine and allegations about Russian interference in the US presidential election.

Gorbachev said the US and Russia should be encouraging moves for a fresh resolution at the UN Security Council to counter the global nuclear threat

But he warned: ‘Politicians and military leaders sound increasingly belligerent and defence doctrines more dangerous. Commentators and TV personalities are joining the bellicose chorus. It all looks as if the world is preparing for war.’

His remarks came as it emerged that Putin and Trump could speak by telephone for the first time on Saturday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded ‘yes’ when asked by the RIA Novosti news agency on Friday whether such a talk between the two leaders was possible.

The phone call will be a crucial first step towards what the Kremlin and the White House hope will be a thaw in relations that were fraught under the previous U.S. administration.