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Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
Peskov said the schedule of the Russian president does not allow him to be present at the farewell ceremony for the last leader of the Soviet Union this Saturday.
Gorbachev will not receive a state funeral, but the ceremony will have “elements” of one, according to the spokesman.
On Wednesday morning after Gorbachev’s death, the Kremlin issued a short statement expressing its condolences. On Thursday, Putin visited the Moscow hospital where Gorbachev’s body is being kept to pay his respects.
The death of the last president of the USSR at the age of 91 after a long illness sparked different reactions from EU capitals, laying bare East and West divisions over Gorbachev’s legacy and Europe’s policy toward Russia. While many in the West praise Gorbachev for enabling a peaceful end to the Cold War, he is criticized by Eastern Europeans for trying to violently suppress anti-Soviet sentiment in the Baltics.
Gorbachev’s relationship with Putin was complex: Gorbachev in the past had criticized Putin’s authoritarianism but supported Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. When it came to Russia’s war in Ukraine, a day after the invasion began he called for a “cessation of hostilities” and for peace talks to begin, though stopped short of blaming Russia.
Source: Politico
