• Former Soviet leader who ended the cold war, Mikhail Gorbachev passes away at 91

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    Former Soviet leader who ended the cold war, Mikhail Gorbachev passes away at 91
    Mikhail Gorbachev, the former President of the Soviet Union, aged 91 died on Tuesday.

    Digital Desk: Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union's last president, died on Tuesday at the age of 91. Gorbachev is said to have died at Moscow's Central Clinical Hospital. 

    According to Russian news outlets, he died after a protracted illness. During the COVID-19 epidemic, he was self-quarantined. Because he attempted to repair relations with the United States and other Western nations, the last Soviet President was heeded favorably by the West. 

    Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed sorrow at the death of the former Soviet leader.

    "President Putin sends his condolences to the Gorbachev family on their passing. He will telegraph his family and friends to express his condolences in the morning "said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin. 

    Other foreign leaders, such as the departing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, also expressed sorrow over Gorbachev's passing.

    Gorbachev brought an end to the cold war without any casualties. He was unable to stop the Soviet Union from falling, though.

    Gorbachev was elected President in 1985. He held the number one position until 1991. He was the last Cold War commander to live. He boosted ties with the United States.

    Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for his role in negotiating a nuclear weapons treaty with then-US President Ronald Reagan. When the Berlin Wall collapsed, resulting in Germany's unification, he opted to withhold the Soviet troops.

    However, Gorbachev remained a divisive figure in Russia, since Vladimir Putin and many others saw the Soviet Union's demise as a tragedy. He retired in 1991. Boris Yeltsin succeeded the previous Soviet Union President as Russia's first president.

    In 1997, he ran for president but garnered only 0.5 percent of the vote. Gorbachev subsequently turned his attention to educational and humanitarian endeavors.