​In December 2021, 30 years after the collapse of the USSR and Russian troops massed on the border of Ukraine, Mikhail Gorbachev spoke in an interview about the “arrogance of the United States” and the West’s intention to build an “empire”, which was embodied in NATO expansion.

“It got into their heads, arrogance, self-satisfaction, they (the Americans) declared themselves the victors in the Cold War when together we saved the world from confrontation,” Gorbachev said in his latest interview with a news agency in December. state media Ria Novosti.

“In this situation, how can we hope for equal relations with the USA, with the West?” Mikhail Gorbachev continued, condemning Washington’s “triumphalism”.

According to the former Soviet leader, the Western camp wanted to “build a new empire, which is why the idea of ​​expanding NATO was born.”

The expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance by the countries of the former communist bloc in the 1990s is, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the cause of a deep crisis between Russia and the West, since, according to the Kremlin, NATO is the main threat to the strategic security of the Russian Federation.

In December, Russia’s president asked the US and its allies to sign treaties that specifically bar any future expansion of the alliance, as well as any military cooperation in what Russia considers its sphere of influence.

Washington, which finds many of these demands unacceptable, nevertheless agreed to hold talks in January to ensure a de-escalation, as the West feared that Moscow might launch an invasion of Ukraine, a former Soviet republic that wants to join NATO. Nadia Gorbachev

Former President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev died on Monday at the age of 91. He resigned as president of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991, marking the official end of the communist empire. Vladimir Putin called the collapse of the Soviet Union “the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century.”