Mikhail Gorbachev: death of the last leader of the USSR

On December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev signed his resignation as president and thus the end of the USSR. In six years of power, he transformed his country and changed the world. When he took over as head of the USSR in 1985, he dreamed of saving the Soviet regime through democratization. He launched his perestroika reform and liberalized the economy. Its policy of “glasnost” has brought to light the crimes committed by the regime.

Mikhail Gorbachev was at work for rapprochement with the West. In 1987, he signed with Ronald Reagan one of the most important disarmament treaties of the Cold War. Western leaders pay tribute to him today. He was “a rare leader” according to Joe Biden and “a man of peace” for Emmanuel Macron. Recently, critic of Vladimir Putin, the politician did not comment on the Russian offensive in Ukraine.