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Relations between the U.S. and Russia are of “great concern,” but Joe Biden should begin talks with the Kremlin to make the two countries’ “intentions and actions clearer,” according to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
In an interview with state news agency TASS on Wednesday, Gorbachev was asked about his expectations for the Biden presidency and said “something has to be done … in order to normalize relations.”
In 1991, Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) with his U.S. counterpart George H.W. Bush, leading to the two countries limiting their nuclear capabilities.
“I recall the mid-1980s,” Gorbachev said in the interview. “People were saying that nothing would work out relations with the United States. But we resumed the dialogue, met at the highest level — after a six-year break — and adopted a joint statement.”
“We agreed to intensify contacts at all levels and our exchanges and cooperation.”
Gorbachev — who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 — was also asked whether he anticipated a rise in tensions between the U.S. and Russia in the coming years, replying “this should clear up soon” and saying that the two countries “should talk frankly … and discuss what is wrong.”
He also blamed U.S. meddling in conflicts “on almost all continents” for recent retreats in U.S. ambitions as a world power. “It is necessary to discard such concepts, preferably once and for all.”
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