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Mikhail Gorbachev: Last Soviet leader dies aged 91

MOSCOW: Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader who brought the Cold War to a peaceful end, has died aged 91, BBC reported. Gorbachev, who took power in 1985, opened up the then-USSR to the world and introduced a set of reforms at home, it said. But he was unable to prevent the slow collapse of […]

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Mikhail Gorbachev: Last Soviet leader dies aged 91

AUG 31: Mr Gorbachev, who took power in 1985, opened up the then-USSR to the world and introduced a set of reforms at home. But he was unable to prevent the slow collapse of the Soviet Union, from which modern Russia emerged. Tributes have been paid worldwide, with UN chief Antonio Guterres saying he "changed the course of history". "Mikhail Gorbachev was a one-of-a kind statesman," UN Secretary General Mr Guterres wrote in a Twitter tribute. "The world has lost a towering global leader, committed multilateralist, and tireless advocate for peace." The hospital in Moscow where he died said he had been suffering from a long and serious illness. In recent years his health has been in decline and he had been in and out of hospital. In June, international media reported that he had been admitted after suffering from a kidney ailment, though his cause of death has not been announced. Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his deepest condolences following Mr Gorbachev's death, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agency Interfax, according to Reuters. US President Joe Biden called him a "rare leader" and praised Mr Gorbachev as a unique politician who had the "imagination to see that a different future was possible" amid the tensions of the Cold War. European Union President Ursula von der Leyen praised him as a "trusted and respected leader" who "opened the way for a free Europe". "This legacy is one we will not forget," she added. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he admired Mr Gorbachev's courage and integrity, adding: "In a time of Putin's aggression in Ukraine, his tireless commitment to opening up Soviet society remains an example to us all." Mr Gorbachev became general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, and de facto leader of the country, in 1985. At the time, he was 54 - the youngest member of the ruling council known as the Politburo, and was seen as a breath of fresh air after several ageing leaders. His predecessor, Konstantin Chernenko, had died aged 73 after just over a year in office. Few leaders have had such a profound effect on the global order, but Mr Gorbachev didn't come to power seeking to end the Soviet grip over eastern Europe. Rather, he hoped to revitalise its society. The Soviet economy had been struggling for years to keep up with the US and his policy of Perestroika sought to introduce some market-like reforms to the state run system. Internationally he reached arms control deals with the US, refused to intervene when eastern European nations rose up against their Communist rulers and ended the bloody Soviet war in Afghanistan that had raged since 1979. Meanwhile, his policy of glasnost, or openness, allowed people to criticise the government in a way which had been previously unthinkable. But it also unleashed nationalist sentiments in many regions of the country which eventually undermined the stability of the country and led to its collapse. In 1991, after a shambolically organised coup by communist hardliners failed, Mr Gorbachev agreed to dissolve the Soviet Union and left office. He is seen in the West as an architect of reform who created the conditions for the end of the Cold War in 1991 - a time of deep tensions between the Soviet Union and Western nations, including the US and Britain. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 "for the leading role he played in the radical changes in East-West relations". But in the new Russia that emerged after 1991 he has been on the fringes of politics, focusing on educational and humanitarian projects. Mr Gorbachev made one ill-fated attempt to return to political life in 1996, receiving just 0.5% of the vote in presidential elections. His divisive legacy is reflected in the tributes that followed his death. Henry Kissinger, who served as US Secretary of State under President Richard Nixon, told the BBC's Newsnight programme that Mr Gorbachev will be "remembered in history as a man who started historic transformations that were to the benefit of mankind and to the Russian people". James Baker, who negotiated the reunification of Germany with Mr Gorbachev's government, told the New York Times that "history will remember Mikhail Gorbachev as a giant who steered his great nation towards democracy". But many Russians never forgave him for the turmoil that followed the collapse of the USSR. Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed official in occupied Ukraine, said Mr Gorbachev had "deliberately led the (Soviet) Union to its demise" and called him a traitor. He will be buried in Moscow's Novodevichy cemetery, the resting place of many prominent Russians, next to his wife Raisa who died of leukaemia in 1999, Tass news agency said.

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Last Soviet leader Gorbachev, who ended Cold War and won Nobel prize, dies aged 91

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Is Russia invading Ukraine and what does Putin want?

FEB 22: Russia has deployed at least 150,000 Russian troops close to Ukraine's borders and recognised two breakaway regions inside it. What happens next could jeopardise Europe's entire security structure. Has Putin ordered an invasion? He has sent in so-called peacekeeping troops, but few believe they are there to keep the peace. Australia's PM says that idea is nonsense and one Ukrainian general said it was clear they would be regular forces. President Putin has torn up a peace agreement with neighbouring Ukraine, recognising the independence of two eastern areas seized and occupied by Russian-backed rebels in 2014. " That was the year Russia first invaded Ukraine, a country of 44 million people, seizing then annexing its southern region of Crimea. President Joe Biden warned that the Russian leader had decided to attack "in the coming days" and latest satellite images show Russian forces deployed within 9 to 19 miles (15-30km) of the frontier. The eight-year conflict in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region has never ended, and Russia could pour more troops into those breakaway regions, but it could go beyond. It has more than 150,000 troops deployed close to Ukraine's borders. President Putin always maintained he did not want war and was ready to negotiate, but ending the peace accords with Ukraine and recognising breakaway areas as independent makes further talks look dead in the water for now. Until now he has threatened "appropriate retaliatory military-technical measures" if his demands for "security guarantees" from the West are not met. Mr Putin has warned Ukraine that it will be responsible for further bloodshed if the country does not halt hostilities in the east. But there have already been a series of bogus incidents in the region and any one of them could be used as a pretext for attack. When rebel leaders ordered a civilian evacuation claiming a Ukrainian offensive was imminent, it emerged a video appeal had been pre-recorded two days earlier. Why is Russia targeting Ukraine? Russia has long resisted Ukraine's move towards European institutions, both Nato and the EU. Mr Putin has now claimed Ukraine is a puppet of the West, and was never a proper state anyway. His core demand is that the West to guarantee Ukraine will not join Nato, a defensive alliance of 30 countries. Ukraine shares borders with both the EU and Russia. As a former Soviet republic it has deep social and cultural ties with Russia, and Russian is widely spoken there, but ever since Russia invaded in 2014 those relations have frayed. Russia attacked Ukraine when its pro-Russian president was deposed in early 2014. The war in the east has since claimed more than 14,000 lives. Why is recognition of rebel areas dangerous? Until now these so-called people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk have been run by Russian proxies. Under Mr Putin's decree of recognition, Russia can also build military bases, By pouring Russian troops into an area witnessing hundreds of ceasefire violations every a day, the risk of open war becomes far higher. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned Russia's recognition of independence as a violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty and the West says it is a violation of international law. Two Minsk peace agreements of 2014-15 aimed at ending the conflict would have given them special status inside Ukraine. The accords were never fulfilled but negotiations were still going on, with France and Germany fully committed to them. They now look doomed. Russia had already prepared the ground, with unfounded accusations that Ukraine had committed "genocide" in the east. It has handed out some 700,000 passports in rebel-run areas, so it can argue any action is aimed at protecting its own citizens. How far will Russia go? Much of the attention is on the east in Ukraine, where Russian troops could soon be on the ground. But President Biden has warned: "We believe they will target Ukraine's capital Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million innocent people." Although Moscow previously insisted "there is no Russian invasion", Russia could mobilise troops in Crimea, Belarus and around Ukraine's eastern borders. How far will the West go on Ukraine? The West has made clear there are no plans to send combat troops to Ukraine itself so the main response will be sanctions on Russia. Nato countries have offered Ukraine other support, in the form of advisers, weapons and field hospitals. Meanwhile, 5,000 troops have been deployed in the Baltic states and Poland. Another 4,000 troops could be sent to Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia. So what would sanctions look like? The US says it would target Russia's financial institutions and key industries; the EU says it will limit Russian access to financial markets and the UK has warned "those in and around the Kremlin will have nowhere to hide", with restrictions imposed on Russian business accessing the dollar and pound. Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany looks under threat too. It's complete but not yet approved by Germany's regulator. The ultimate economic hit would be to disconnect Russia's banking system from the international Swift payment system. But that could badly impact the US and European economies. What does Putin want? Russia has spoken of a "moment of truth" in recasting its relationship with Nato and has highlighted three demands. First, it wants a legally binding pledge that Nato does not expand further: "For us it's absolutely mandatory to ensure Ukraine never, ever becomes a member of Nato," said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. Mr Putin has complained Russia has "nowhere further to retreat to - do they think we'll just sit idly by?" In 1994 Russia signed an agreement to respect independent Ukraine's independence and sovereignty. But last year President Putin wrote a long piece describing Russians and Ukrainians as "one nation", and now he has claimed modern Ukraine was entirely created by communist Russia. He sees the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 as the "disintegration of historical Russia". President Putin has also argued that if Ukraine joined Nato, the alliance might try to recapture Crimea. His other core demands are that Nato does not deploy "strike weapons near Russia's borders", and that it removes forces and military infrastructure from member states that joined the alliance from 1997. That means Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Baltics. In reality Russia wants Nato to return to its pre-1997 borders. What Nato says Nato is a defensive alliance with an open-door policy to new members, and its 30 member states are adamant that will not change. Ukraine's president has called for "clear, feasible timeframes" to join Nato, but there is no prospect of it happening for a long time, as Germany's chancellor has made clear. The idea that any current Nato country would give up its membership is a non-starter. In President Putin's eyes, the West promised back in 1990 that Nato would expand "not an inch to the east" but did so anyway. That was before the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, so the promise made to then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev only referred to East Germany in the context of a reunified Germany. Mr Gorbachev said later "the topic of Nato expansion was never discussed" at the time. Is there a diplomatic solution? Germany has accused Russia of deliberately destroying a peace process covering eastern Ukraine without apparent reason. There looks to be no way of restoring that international peace deal. There was talk of a Putin-Biden summit but that now seems doomed too. Russia wanted a treaty with the US barring nuclear weapons from being deployed beyond their national territories. The US offered to start talks on limiting short- and medium-range missiles as well as on a new treaty on intercontinental missiles. Russia had been unhappy with the West's response but was positive towards a "transparency mechanism" of mutual checks on missile bases - two in Russia, and two in Romania and Poland. BBC

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Russia-Ukraine tensions: UK warns of plot to install pro-Moscow ally

JAN 23: The Foreign Office took the unusual step of naming former Ukrainian MP Yevhen Murayev as a potential Kremlin candidate. Russia has moved 100,000 troops near to its border with Ukraine but denies it is planning an invasion. UK ministers have warned that the Russian government will face serious consequences if there is an incursion. In a statement, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: "The information being released today shines a light on the extent of Russian activity designed to subvert Ukraine, and is an insight into Kremlin thinking. "Russia must de-escalate, end its campaigns of aggression and disinformation, and pursue a path of diplomacy. "As the UK and our partners have said repeatedly, any Russian military incursion into Ukraine would be a massive strategic mistake with severe costs." Russia has seized Ukrainian territory before, when it annexed Crimea in 2014, after the country overthrew their pro-Russian president. Western and Ukrainian intelligence services have suggested another invasion or incursion could happen some time in early 2022, after Russian forces amassed on the border. Russia has denied it is planning any attack but President Putin has issued demands to the West, including that Ukraine be prevented from joining the Nato military alliance. He also wants Nato to abandon military exercises and stop sending weapons to eastern Europe, seeing this as a direct threat to Russia's security. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted that the Foreign Office was "circulating disinformation" and urged it to "cease these provocative activities" and "stop spreading nonsense". Mr Murayev, a media owner, lost his seat in the Ukrainian parliament when his party failed to secure 5% of the vote in the 2019 elections. He told the Observer newspaper that the Foreign Office "seems confused". "It isn't very logical. I'm banned from Russia. Not only that but money from my father's firm there has been confiscated," Mr Murayev said. The Foreign Office also named four other Ukrainian politicians who it said maintained links with the Russian intelligence services. It said some of the individuals had been in contact with Russian intelligence officers working on an invasion plan. They include Mykola Azarov, who served as prime minister under the pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was overthrown in 2014. Mr Azarov then fled to Russia where he established what was widely seen as a puppet government-in-exile. He has been the subject of international sanctions and an Interpol "red notice" issued at the request of the Ukrainian government, for charges including embezzlement and misappropriation. Also named is Volodymyr Sivkovych, the former deputy head of the Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council, who was this week made the subject of US sanctions for allegedly working with Russian intelligence. The others are Serhiy Arbuzov and Andriy Kluyev, who both served as deputy prime minister under Mr Yanukovych. Hours after Russia's foreign minister and his US counterpart held what they called "frank" talks to try to reduce the chance of a wider conflict in Ukraine, a US shipment of "lethal aid" arrived in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Saturday. The delivery, including ammunition for "front line defenders", marked the first part of a $200m (£147.5m) security support package approved by US President Joe Biden in December. Earlier, the chairman of the Commons Defence Select Committee warned an invasion could be imminent and said the UK must do more to support Ukraine. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also called on the government to "protect our values and security" by being "steadfast in our opposition to Russian aggression". Dozens of British troops have been in Ukraine since 2015 to help train their armed forces, and the UK has also made a commitment to help rebuild Ukraine's navy following Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014. Earlier this week, the UK announced it was sending defence weapons and extra troops for training. Nato's 30 members - including the UK, US and several former Soviet Union states which share a border with Russia - agree that an armed attack against one is an attack against them all, and they will come to the aid of one another. What does Putin want? Russia's president has long claimed that the US broke a guarantee it made in 1990 that Nato would not expand further east. "They simply deceived us!" he said at a news conference last month. Interpretations differ over what exactly was promised to the then-Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. But it is clear that Mr Putin believes the guarantee was made. Since then, several central and eastern European countries, which used to be part of the Soviet Union or its sphere of influence, have joined Nato. Four of them - Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - have borders with Russia. Russia argues that this expansion, and the presence of Nato troops and military equipment near its borders, is a direct threat to its security. The country seized and annexed the Crimean peninsula in southern Ukraine in 2014 after Ukrainians overthrew their pro-Russian president. Ever since, Ukraine's military has been locked in a war with Russian-backed rebels in areas of the east near Russia's borders. There are fears that the conflict, which has claimed 14,000 lives and caused at least two million people to flee their homes, may reignite and that Russia's military will cross the border.

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The Failed Coup that Failed Russia - Khabarhub

Thirty years ago this month, a group of communist hardliners seized control of Moscow and placed Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev under house arrest at his

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