“Those who organized the coup in August 1991, and after the coup used the weakened position of the president of the USSR, are responsible for the end of perestroika and the collapse of the Soviet Union,” Gorbachev quotes Der Spiegel.
He noted that he was aware of the possible risks of perestroika, but at that time “it was impossible to live as before,” changes were necessary.
“An essential part of perestroika was a new foreign policy thinking that encompasses both universal values and nuclear disarmament, as well as freedom of choice,” Gorbachev emphasized, saying that he did not regret it, but acknowledged that there were mistakes and mistakes on the path of reform.
Also, the former leader expressed the view that Russia will never return to a totalitarian system.
Earlier, German Ambassador to Russia Geza Andreas von Geir at a festive event in Moscow on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall thanked the USSR for its contribution to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
As former US Secretary of State James Baker reported, the fall of the Berlin Wall was unexpected for US intelligence.