Putin Will Not Attend Gorbachev funeral

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the funeral of the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, on Saturday because of ‘schedule constraints,’ the Kremlin has said.

In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “Putin had paid his respects on Thursday morning by visiting Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital, where Gorbachev died on Tuesday.” 

Putin offered a “muted response” following the death of Gorbachev, who ushered in the end of the Cold War and opening to the West, which coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Putin has called the dissolution of the Soviet Union the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.”

Aljazeera /Shakirat Sadiq