Vladimir Putin has expressed his "deepest sympathies" following the death of Mikhail Gorbachev whose achievement in bringing about the peaceful ending of the Cold War is being undone by the current Russian leader.
Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, forged arms reduction deals with the United States and partnerships with Western powers to remove the Iron Curtain that had divided Europe since World War Two and bring about the reunification of Germany.
But while he is championed abroad for bringing about reform and "glasnost" - openness - his popularity is more mixed within Russia as he oversaw the collapse of the Soviet Union .
Putin has called end of the Soviet Union as the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century but equally Gorbachev was "upset" at the invasion of Ukraine which he saw as it was undoing "his life's work", according to journalist Alexei Venediktov.
"I can tell you that he is upset. Of course, he understands that [...] this was his life's work. Freedoms were brought by Gorbachev. Everyone forgot who gave freedom to the Russian Orthodox Church? Who was it? Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev," Venediktov, who had spoken to Gorbachev recently, told Russian Forbes.
"The freedom of press, the first media law, who brought it? Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev. Private property? Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev. Gorbachev's reforms - political, not economic - were all destroyed. Nilch, zero, ashes. When Gorbachev was leaving, there were 4,000 NATO Response Forces in Europe, 4,000, now NATO has announced 300,000 people by the end of next year. So today there are 40,000 - and will be 300,000."
He was referring to the militarisation of Europe again but Gorbachev has been critical at the way that the United States had acted "arrogantly" since the end of the Cold War and tried to build a "new empire" while also sought the expansion of NATO.
"How can one count on equal relations with the United States and the West in such a position?" Gorbachev told state news agency RIA Novosti in December, 2021.
Gorbachev also said that the West had celebrated "victory" in the Cold War while he insisted that it was "together" that the Soviet Union and the US ended their nuclear race.
Putin expressed his "his deepest sympathies", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Interfax. "Tomorrow he will send a telegram of condolences to his family and friends."
Putin said in 2018 he would reverse the Soviet Union's disintegration if he could, news agencies reported.
World leaders were quick to pay tribute. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Gorbachev, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990, had opened the way for a free Europe.
US President Joe Biden said he had believed in "glasnost and perestroika (restructuring) - not as mere slogans, but as the path forward for the people of the Soviet Union after so many years of isolation and deprivation."
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, citing Putin's invasion of Ukraine, said Gorbachev's "tireless commitment to opening up Soviet society remains an example to us all".
Gorbachev died at Russia's Central Clinical Hospital aged 91 on Tuesday "after a long and protracted disease".
