The first president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, intended to save the USSR, but he was unlucky, said former adviser to Russian President Boris Yeltsin Sergei Stankevich, commenting on the statements of journalist Alexei Venediktov.
“There is such a factor as unforeseen undesirable consequences. In history, this happens all the time. So it was with Gorbachev. He really tried to preserve the Soviet Union. But, unfortunately, there was a coup in August 1991. And all the republics, who were ready to stay, fled from Moscow. As a result, the USSR collapsed, because, first, the Communist Party first brought this Union to a dead end, and then awkwardly reformed. The second reason was the putsch. It was a critical blow, after which nothing remained, except to try to be apart “, – reports Stankevich’s comment to Ura.ru.
Earlier, Alexei Venediktov said on the air of Ekho Moskvy that Mikhail Gorbachev was, in fact, the only Soviet elite who fought to preserve the country, and therefore was not to blame for the collapse.