Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev; born 2 March 1931) is a former Soviet statesman. He was the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991 when the party was dissolved. He served as the country's head of state from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991. He was the only General Secretary in the history of the Soviet Union to have been born after the October...
ProfessionWorld Leader
Date of Birth2 March 1931
CityPrivolnoye, Russia
era help humanity pope possible
The pope did everything possible to help humanity out of its era of hate.
deal great work
In Russia, we still have a great deal of work to do.
goal bloodshed
My goal was to avoid bloodshed. But unfortunately there was some bloodshed, after all.
want poverty care
Putin wants to stay in power, but not so that he can finally solve our most pressing problems: education, health care, poverty.
regret people want
Even today, a majority of people surveyed say that they regret the fact that the USSR collapsed. But only 9 percent say that they would want it back.
russia way criminals
In Russia, there are those who make their money in criminal ways, but I earn everything myself.
opponents defeat coups
The opponents of perestroika had suffered a defeat, and then they organized the coup.
giving-up long three
I will never give up politics. I've tried to give it up three times, but I never made it. Politics mobilizes me. I won't last long if I give it up.
important vote important-things
The most important thing is who counts the votes.
hands people unions
The Union was destroyed against the will of the people, and it was done deliberately - with the participation of the Russian leadership, on the one hand, and that of the putschists, on the other.
wall president moscow
When I cleared out Moscow apartment after stepping down as president, they found all kinds of wiring in the walls. It turned out that they had been spying on me all along.
people generations educated
A new generation of more educated people started to be active. Then society required freedom, society demanded freedom.
powerful military thinking
The United States found dozens of billions of dollars for military action in Iraq, so it should certainly be able to find a few billions of dollars to get rid of weapons of mass destruction. I'll assume that since the most powerful nation - the United States - has promised to pay for much of this, then its word will be kept. If it isn't, I don't think we can have a true partnership.
russia benefits want
It sometimes seems to me that some of our Western partners do not want Russia to fully recover. They would like Russia to be in a subdued state, and they want Russian resources to be used for the benefit of the U.S. economy.