Washington 31 August : US President Joe Biden has praised former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died in Moscow at the age of 91 as a “man of remarkable vision.”Gorbachev was instrumental in bringing democracy reforms in the Soviet Union after decades of brutal political oppression, Biden said in a White House statement issued late on Tuesday.
“These were the actions of one of the rare leaders who was a leader with the vision to realize that a new future was possible , and the determination to take on a risk with his whole life to realize it.It resulted in a more secure world and more liberty for millions of people,” he said.
Biden continued to state that Gorbachev believed in “glasnost” (openness) and “perestroika” (restructuring), not as mere slogans, but rather as the best way for the citizens of the Soviet Union after so many years of exile and deprivation.
The Cold War had already lasted for more than 40 years before Gorbachev became president, Biden continued, adding that only a handful of top Soviet officials had the courage to acknowledge that things had to change.
As an alumnus of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden stated that he had seen Gorbachev do this and much more.
“As the leader of the USSR, he worked with President (Ronald) Reagan to reduce our two nations’ nuclear arsenals much to the delight of millions of people across the world praying for a halt to nuclear war.”
Even after his departure from the presidency, Gorbachev was still deeply involved, Biden added, recalling a visit in 2009 that the former Soviet leader made to the White House during which the two had a lengthy discussion about ways to reduce US as well as Russian nuclear arsenals.
“It was simple to see why people around the world held him in such a high regard,” the President concluded.
Gorbachev was Nobel Peace laureate and the leader of the Soviet Union, died on Tuesday evening “after an extended and serious illness”.
The statesman will be buried alongside his wife in Moscow’s Novodevichy Cemetery, the burial site of many of the most famous Russian composers, writers, and politicians.
