Kremlin offers mixed view of Gorbachev’s historic role
MOSCOW — The Kremlin treaded carefully Wednesday while reacting to Mikhail Gorbachev’s death, praising his prominent role in reshaping 20th-century history, but noting his “romantic” view of the West.
The Kremlin’s ambivalence was reflected in the uncertainty about funeral arrangements. An iconic central venue chosen for Saturday’s farewell ceremony has been used for state funerals since Soviet times, but Russian media reported that Mr. Gorbachev won’t be given that honor.
The hesitant stance was mirrored by state television broadcasts, which paid tribute to Mr. Gorbachev as a historic figure but described his reforms as poorly planned and held him responsible for failing to safeguard the country’s interests in dialogue with the West.
The criticism echoed earlier assessments by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has famously lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union as the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century.”
In a telegram of condolences released by the Kremlin, Mr. Putin praised Mr. Gorbachev as a man who left “an enormous impact on the course of world history.”
“He led the country during difficult and dramatic changes, amid large-scale foreign policy, economic and society challenges,” he said. “He deeply realized that reforms were necessary and tried to offer his solutions for the acute problems.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described Mr. Gorbachev as an “extraordinary” statesman who will “always remain in the country’s history” but noted what he described as his idealistic view of the West.
“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 materialize. The bloodthirsty nature of our opponents has come to light, and it’s good that we realized that in time.”
While avoiding explicit personal criticism of Mr. Gorbachev, Mr. Putin in the past repeatedly blamed him for failing to secure written commitments from the West that would rule out NATO’s expansion eastward — an issue that has become a major irritant in Russia-West ties for decades and fomented tensions that exploded when the Russian leader sent troops into Ukraine.
Members of the Kremlincontrolled parliament sought followed a similar path, hailing Mr. Gorbachev’s historic role but lamenting the Soviet collapse.
Leonid Slutsky, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house, the State Duma, hailed Mr. Gorbachev as “the most remarkable politician of his time” but described him as a “contradictory” figure whose reforms “played into the hands of those who were trying to wipe the USSR off the world’s map.”
Some others were far less polite.
Oleg Morozov, a member of the main Kremlin party, the United Russia, said that Mr. Gorbachev should have “repented” for the errors that hurt Russia’s interests.
Nikolai Kolomeitsev, the deputy head of the Communist faction in the Duma, went even further, denouncing Mr. Gorbachev as a “traitor” who “destroyed the state.”
On another flank, Grigory Yavlinsky, the leader of the liberal Yabloko party, praised Mr. Gorbachev for “offering freedom to hundreds of millions in Russia, its neighborhood and half of Europe.”
“It’s our responsibility how we in Russia have used that freedom, that great opportunity,” he said.
Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said that he learned about Mr. Gorbachev’s death from prison radio, adding sarcastically that “it perfectly reflects a sharp turn the country has made.”
“Gorbachev has remained one of the very few who didn’t use power and the opportunities it offered for personal gain,” he said on his messaging app channel. “I’m sure that our ancestors will have a far more favorable view of his life than his contemporaries.”
Dmitry Muratov, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner who served as the editor of Russia’s top independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta until it shut under official pressure in March after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine, praised Mr. Gorbachev as a man who put an end to the war in Afghanistan, released political prisoners and ended the Cold War-era arms race.
“He even told me once that he refused to press a nuclear button even during an exercise,” he said.
Mr. Gorbachev’s aides were devastated by the loss.
“His fearlessness in the initiatives, the changes that he started in this country, our country, in the Soviet Union, in Russia, predetermined the irreversibility of many of these changes,” said Pavel Palazhchenko, who worked as Mr. Gorbachev’s official interpreter during his tenure as the Soviet leader and then worked for Mr. Gorbachev’s foundation.
The Kremlin said no decision has been made on funeral arrangements, but the Interfax news agency reported that Mr. Gorbachev won’t be given a state funeral.