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Gorbachev Still Feels Bitter
December 21, 2001
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
MOSCOW (AP) - Mikhail Gorbachev, still bitter about his resignation as Soviet president a decade ago, said Friday he has not spoken to his rival and successor Boris Yeltsin since.
The former Soviet president shared angry memories of his Christmas Day 1991 resignation at a news conference Friday. His departure brought an end to the Soviet Union.
But Gorbachev strongly praised Yeltsin's hand-picked successor President Vladimir Putin, saying Putin was committed to revive Russia and make it an equal partner of the West.
Recalling his resignation, Gorbachev accused Yeltsin of ruining the Soviet Union out of personal ambition.
On Dec. 8, 1991, Yeltsin and former presidents Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine and Stanislav Shushkevich of Belarus announced the Soviet Union defunct, creating a new, loose alliance called the Commonwealth of Independent States. Nine other ex-Soviet republics joined the alliance later in December, leaving Gorbachev without a job.
``I was shocked by the treacherous behavior of those people, who cut the country in pieces in order to settle accounts and establish themselves as czars,'' Gorbachev said.
He said he couldn't disavow the republican leaders' action because of fear that would push the country toward chaos.
``I couldn't choose the path that might have led to rift and civil war in a nation brimming with nuclear weapons,'' Gorbachev said.
His voice trembling with contempt, Gorbachev said Yeltsin and his lieutenants settled themselves in his office hours after his televised resignation speech, breaking a promise to give him five days to pack.
``They gathered in my office and drank a bottle of whisky for their ``victory,'' Gorbachev said. ``I have never spoken to Yeltsin again.''
Gorbachev had warmer words for Putin, saying in his performance in nearly two years in office proved that Russia chose the right president. Yeltsin named Putin acting president when Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned Dec. 31, 1999. Three months later, Putin won the presidential election by an overwhelming margin.
``He has done more than I expected, he has achieved a greater stability and order,'' Gorbachev said. ``He conducts reforms in Russia's interests, but also takes a responsible stance in foreign policy. His action since Sept. 11 shows that he has become a mature statesman.''
He also cautioned that the West should treat Russia as an equal.
``It's hard, if possible at all, to ensure security in Europe and elsewhere without Russia,'' the former Soviet president said.
``Russia doesn't need to join NATO, but it's very important that it take part in its decision-making,'' Gorbachev said, adding that the alliance must give Russia some veto power.
Putin has brought Russia into the U.S.-led international coalition in the war against terror and pushed for closer relations with NATO. NATO and Russia are expected to work out a new framework of relations early next year.
Gorbachev criticized President Bush's decision to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in order to build a national missile defense, saying it damaged the foundation of nuclear arms control.
``What the United States has done will remain on its conscience and they will bear responsibility for that,'' Gorbachev said.
He also pointed at the botched, 10-year Soviet war in Afghanistan as a lesson for the Western coalition to leave it to the Afghans themselves to govern their country. Gorbachev ended the war in 1989.
``If they go there and try to substitute for the Afghans, they will fail,'' he said.
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