Russian President, Putin To Miss Gorbachev’s Funeral

Russian President, Putin To Skip Gorbachev's Funeral
The late Mikhail Gorbachev and President Putin
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Reports reaching the desk of Africa Daily News, New York has it that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be present at the Soviet Union’s last leader, Mikhail Gorbachev’s funeral – this has been confirmed by Kremlin.

According to Dmitry Peskov, Mr. Putin’s spokesman, due to his responsibilities, he would be unable to participate in the funeral ceremony on Saturday.

Gorbachev passed away on Tuesday at the age of 91, following the said incident Putin’s spokesman claimed that the Russian president had paid his homage to the Soviet Union’s last leader at a hospital in Moscow.

While Mr. Putin has bemoaned the fall of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev’s policies contributed to the ending of the Cold War.

The dissolution of the USSR, according to the Russian president in 2005, was ‘the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] Century.’

Read Also: Russia Moves To Expand Armed Forces As Putin Signs Decree

Mr. Putin who wrote to Gorbachev’s family on Wednesday delivered heartfelt condolences portraying the deceased as ‘a politician and statesman who had a huge impact on the course of world history’.

Russian state television captured Vladimir Putin on Thursday laying crimson roses next to Mikhail Gorbachev’s casket at Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital.

‘Unfortunately, the president’s work schedule will not allow him to do this on 3 September, so he decided to do it today,’ Mr. Peskov informed reporters.

Gorbachev’s funeral will be held at Moscow’s Hall of Columns, it’s said to be open to the public and anyone who wishes to attend and pay their last respect to the leader.

He will be laid to rest next to his wife, Raisa, who died in 1999. in at the city’s Novodevichy cemetery

Mr. Peskov claimed that the state was supporting the planning of Gorbachev’s service and that it would include “elements” of a state funeral.

There will be other significant absences from the burial besides Mr. Putin. due to Western sanctions as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many of the foreign leaders who would have been anticipated to participate are temporarily restricted from entering Russian territory.

Several prominent leaders from the US, UK, EU, Japan, and Canada are on the exclusion list, including Joe Biden, the US president, and Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, as well as Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, the two aspirants competing to take over from him

The Kremlin would say, what is all the fuss about? Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences to Mikhail Gorbachev’s family (in a brief telegram). He’s also laid flowers at Gorbachev’s open casket.

What’s all the ruckus about, the Kremlin would ask. The family of Mikhail Gorbachev has received condolences from Vladimir Putin (in a brief telegram). Gorbachev’s open casket was also graced with flowers from him.

He won’t be attending the funeral, though. He is too busy, according to the explanation given. That very flimsy excuse is encouraging rumors that, in actuality, Putin doesn’t have the time, but rather doesn’t want to go.

It simply means the president is just trying to avoid the funeral. Why might that be? To begin with, Mikhail Gorbachev is perceived by Russian politicians today as having been a feeble, indecisive leader who let a superpower and had let Russia’s importance fade.

Additionally, President Putin has been working hard to oust Mikhail Gorbachev’s legacy. Gorbachev liberalized the country, gave his citizens freedoms, and pursued solidarity and peace with the developed world.

Putin is absolutely not into that. He has been restricting liberties, stifling democratic institutions, and endorsing the ideology of hostility with the West.

That – along with the invasion of Ukraine – is keeping President Putin very busy. No wonder his diary is full.

President Putin is quite busy as a result of Ukraine’s invasion. Little wonder his calendar is fully booked.

Africa Daily News, New York

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