Russian President Vladimir Putin has marked Mikhail Gorbachev’s 85th birthday by hailing the final leader of the Soviet Union as a great statesman and commending his legacy.
Gorbachev and Putin have had a relatively amicable relationship; Gorbachev was a major backer of Putin’s decision to annex Crimea from the territory of Ukraine in 2014. Gorbachev was also in favor of Putin during the Russian president’s first term in the early 2000s.
However, they do not see eye-to-eye on everything—Gorbachev has criticized Putin’s treatment of political opposition. “[Putin] has started picking up the same illness which I suffered from earlier—self-confidence. Don’t get …read more
Source: Newsweek
