Putin will not be attending the funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev, who died on Tuesday at the age of 91.
The Kremlin's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov explained that Putin had bade the last Soviet leader farewell at the clinic where he died, however, his schedule did not permit him to attend the funeral.
Putin described the collapse of the Soviet Union as a "tragedy" in 2005 (NBC), sentiments he reexpressed in December 2021 (Reuters) when he described the collapse as "the demise of historical Russia".
Reuters reported at the time (December 2021), "Putin's comments, released by state TV on Sunday, are likely to further fuel speculation about his foreign policy intentions among critics, who accuse him of planning to recreate the Soviet Union and of contemplating an attack on Ukraine, a notion the Kremlin has dismissed as fear-mongering." (Reuters)
Sources: PAP, Reuters, NBC
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