what the, what about the the, the, the me its breaking news to our live on archie international, the final leader of the so union, mikhail gorbachev has died 891 in moscow. central hospital offer a prolonged illness on the program will be looking through his historic legacy and special coverage in just a few moments. i at least 30 people that report living killed and over 700 wounded in classes. and i got it all following the retirement from politics of a leading shia cleric who was for a long time opposed us influence in iran. more than 1200 of the

troops are reportedly killed and failed offensive ordered by the ukrainian president in the country south. this is according to data disclosed by russia, defense minister the news just off the 5 in the morning here in moscow. really good to have your company with us for breaking news. this our here when artsy international, the final leader of the soviet union. because gorbachev has died aged 91 in moscow, central hospital after a long illness, many top politicians from around the world have already expressed their condolences over his death for so for a moment here on see, let's take a quick look through gorbachev, legacy and special coverage ah,

just a bit earlier here in the studio, i had all teeth peter scott, who's been following the world's reaction to the death of mikhail gorbachev. unsurprisingly, there's been an absolute huge outpouring of condolences for the former soviet leader mikhail gorbachev. i mean, starting here, we have bruton, who expressed his deepest condolences and at some point later today, he is expected to get in touch with gorbachev's friends and relatives, and express those condolences to him. un secretary general antonia good terrorist described him as a one of a kind statesman who changed the course of history. the u. k. p. m, admired gorbachev's, courage and integrity. your opinion president ursula, of underlying praise him as a trusted and respected leader who left as she described,

unforgettable legacy. and i could go on rory, but just touching on that on forgettable legacy. that ursula vonda lion phrased in for i think it's fair to say that it is a bit of a mixed bag, depending on where you look at it from in the west. gorbachev is seen as this sort of progressive reforming leader who brought around democracy an era of hope. and he opened up russian. of course he did, you know, he, he brought an end to the cold war. he signed a number of arms reduction treaties with the u. s and of course brought around the verification of germany and he was awarded the nobel peace prize in 1090 as well for his role in improving relations between the east and west. but i think it's fair to say the overhead in russia, that legacy isn't quite as rosy. many russians, they do blame him for the economic turbulence caused by his reforms. you have obviously, the iconic medic striker and glass nest, the restructuring, an openness, but that's plunged living standards here. and of course the ninety's were very

chaotic time in russia. so he isn't seen in 2 favorable a light among many russians here. and of course, president putin famously said that he sees the collapse of the soviet union as the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. now, following the clubs of the soviet union, of course, gorbachev stepping down from power in 91. he very much took a back seat in russian politics. he did, however, try one more for a into the national political arena in 96 where he run for president. but he only received half a percentage of the votes. and since then, he mainly focused on humanitarian and educational projects. now he's expected to be buried in moscow's nova d v chief cemetery next to his wife rice and she passed away in 1990 very famously, and mrs. solely or mister solely. and of course, we'll bring you more on the fall off and go gorbachev death as a mom. he gets it. of course cooper off over hold the soviet union's foreign policy

by introducing the quote, new political thinking doctrine that ultimately thought relations with the west and brought about the end of the costly cold war. now go over to offer a cold for the world to be seen as united and inter dependent instead is divided into communist and capitalist countries. so the balance of interests of different countries is a way of solving international problems or universal values have to be recognised above all others, whether they were religious or national. soviet leader also wanted to see the world free of old nuclear weapons by the start of the 21st century. ah, he ended the isolation of our country and he brought last no st. and that freedoms, he accompanied group which of to the key meetings of the time,

witnessing as history was made. one such meeting was the reykjavik summit in october 1986, the 1 when ronald reagan and may have gorbachev moved to a ground breaking nuclear arms control agreement. despite talks collapsing at the last minute, there was still seen as a huge breakthrough. breakable was the most dramatic and the most exciting, and ultimately a disappointment at her that point. but later it turned out that the main parameters of nuclear arms reductions had been agreed and then became a treatise that were assigned in a to 7. and then $9.00 to $1.00, and those are treaties served. i think her russia and the u. s. and the world are really well over the decades. breakover became possible only after the 1st meeting between reagan and gorbachev, the historic 1985 geneva summit. it was hell,

despite huge skepticism around the event. ah, many soviet experts on the united states thought that reagan was a very conservative, very right wing president with whom you can really cannot do business. and gotcha believed otherwise and said otherwise. and they were able to establish a relationship with reagan that worked quite well. but one of the very 1st meetings gorbachev held with the west was with the iron lady herself, yuki premier, margaret thatcher. the 2 met in 1984 before gorbachev. even by in soviet leader, the talks were viewed as a 1st step to finally warming relations between the soviet union and the west. i like mister gorbachev, we can do business together. she said so to ronald reagan, in that sense, she was influential and she played an important role in establishing the right

atmosphere. remember that before go mature of came in, there hadn't been a us soviet some, it was 6 years. it's an absolutely incredible thing. if you look at it, it was a huge turnaround in the relationship and something that despite all the differences between gilbert children, subsequent leaders has not been undone. gorbachev was responsible for a major nuclear disarmament breakthrough. following nearly 2 years of wrangling with us president ronald reagan over the issue, he made a surprise announcement. he said that the soviet union was ready to sign the treaty without delay. december 1987 in the u. s. s. r, and the u. s. signed the deal to eliminate intermediate range nuclear forces. inside right here is the iconic picture of globe, which often reagan when they agree to destroy them. as isles, stop production and pledge not to carry out any more flight tests of intermediate range missiles, and professor of politics and author of the rise and fall of communism. archie

brown says gorbachev should be given credit for a voting. a devastating nuclear war. there are many western leaders as well, well as many people in the soviet military, industrial complex who thought that was utopian and couldn't happen and shouldn't happen. marg sacha, for example, was very much opposed to achievers in favor of british nuclear weapons. so gorbachev really was ahead of time and, and that particular respect, he and reagan, so i to, i don't think they were successful in getting rid of nuclear weapons. so they did greatly reduce the size of nuclear arsenals. and suddenly they were successful in ending the cold war. the question about the gorbachev ledge a leading role and ending the cold war. and we shouldn't be the soldier for that because never could have begun by accident. so all sorts of ways in which a devastating nuclear war could have broken out. and gorbachev certainly more than anyone else played

a decisive role in ending that threat. i loading more and crossing live to a syndicated radio host carry harrison here joining us here on our team to national great to be on with you. a voice very well known all the way from america east coast to the west. great to have you on the program for the breaking news coverage tonight. kerry, many, many say that gorbachev helped to prevent a potential world war 3. but at the same time, with the collapse of the soviet union, the people of russia went through immense hardships in the economic chaos. so the 1990s, looking at russia. now, how would you compare contemporary russia to that of crumbling soviet union? well, that's a complicated question, but i'm, i'm certainly glad you asked it quite clearly at the time to sort of start with what you were saying during the fall, there was an enormous amount of soviet troops, weaponry, unimaginable force, able to be used, had it been used it's widely accepted that we probably would have ended up in world

war 3, in which case you and i would not be talking today. so probably a good thing that you know, that kind of effort was withheld. how did things turn out and play out today? well, it's a tough call. i would give credit to ronald reagan for having listened to doctor helen called a cot from australia, who informed him that the 1st thing that happens to a man. when nuclear nuclear nucleotides, nuclear particles are emitted into the atmosphere, is it affects the mans testicles. she knew that all men would cross their legs and step back and ronald reagan was affected by that so much that he reached out to gorbachev and started these talks. likewise, in 2021, russia actually reached out to the united states to try to reestablish the post cold war security agreement that was had. but anthony blink and said later in january, no way nato is going to do whatever nato wants. and here we are today. what do you

think about when you say he, we are today? there are many that have said that the cold war part 2 has already been in effect for a number of years already. you might even want to go back to, i don't know the my down revolution in kiev back in 2014. the situation today has been referred to as a cold war, of course, during the time of gorbachev. it was the fact of a cold war. that's what it was all called. how, how is it the difference between gorbachev and proven today? well, what's changed with a relationship between washington and moscow because it's pretty clearly not as friendly as it once was. well, no, and i think when the u. s. would engage russia, say back in 1978 in afghanistan, it was done way over there. wherever, over there is out of sight out of mind. we had our issue in cuba during the kennedy administration. that was perilously close to the us citizens. and people were terrified, this is now across europe, the united states has military bases the most ever in all of human history. dotted

around earth. so it feels, again very close to us and our government and our defense contractors. and i'm not saying we're necessarily at fault cuz that happens all over the world the same way . but there's a lot, a lot of money to be made on an endless war that hopefully doesn't really accelerate into something. so it's a cold hot war, maybe a warm war, a hot or for those standing there, a warm war for those watching on television. what do you thing, what do you think though you look back at the legacy of gorbachev and another post soviet countries i'm, is it fair to say that the death of gorbachev does symbolize the end of an era? do you think? well, i think many would have that opinion. i up and have a rubber gorbachev right here. that i got years and years ago. and i mean, he was considered a really cool guy here in the us because we had never seen

a soviet leader ever willing to talk. or at least that we were being told publicly, was willing to talk and actually change things around. open things up open is probably considered pretty good if you're a live human being, you probably want openness. so it was, you know, he did an amazing thing. amazing feats. would that sort of attitude be considered friendly these days toward a lot of people, especially in europe? yes, i think they'd probably like to see that. but there's certainly plenty of mistake now with all governments. people are harsh leaders. we don't have access to them anymore. they're not willing to really talk to us except lecture to us as much as i might sound to somebody. so gorbachev i think leaves a good taste and a lot of people's mouth. kerry harrison syndicated radio star joining us life or went into national from the sunshine state. appreciate it. thanks for your perspective. on many of the us as ours foreign commitments ended during gorbachev

rule. one of the most significant of which was the announcement of a collective defense treaty among communist states in europe. that of the warsaw pact which mark the end of the cold war and lead to the withdrawal of the soviet army from european countries. the council for mutual economic assistance in the eastern bloc was also disbanded. also that of the withdrawal of soviet on forces from afghanistan, after 10 years of war. 1979 as canister. the situation is volatile. the peoples democratic party is in danger being toppling the afghan government calls on the ussr to intervene and helped to stabilize the country. soviet government worried by the end of the year, it looks like tensions could spill over the border into the soviet central asian republics. a december 12th 1979,

the soviet government secretly decides to send in the troops was only meant to be a short term military operation. secure the ussr southern borders. instead, the soviet union was dragged into an almost decade long campaign, a march 1985 moscow. mikhail gorbachev comes to power only several months later. and soviet troops switch from engaging and direct battles with the afghan opposition to advising and assisting pro government forces. april 1988 agreements from the settlement of the situation in afghanistan assigned the un headquarters and geneva the u. s. and the ussr serving as guarantors. your courts also include provisions for the time table. the soviet withdrawal from afghanistan, as well as restrictions on the u. s and pakistan supporting the afghan which he did . a withdrawal began on may 15th,

1988 and took 9 months. 10 years over 600000 soviet soldiers took part in the afghan war with almost 14000 killed february 1989. so an end to the deadly conflict, as the last of your troops left the country, one of the biggest marks that the last so of yet later made was the fall of the berlin wall on november, the 9th that was 1989. and that led to the reification of germany after being divided for almost half a century. let's have a reminder exactly how that historic event unfolded. have a look at ah, 1989. the year when the berlin wall fell together with the political, ideological, and territorial division of germany, the last 28 long years are

the people of germany of woke in 1961 to the bitter reality. from this moment on they would be divided by barbed wire. concrete and stones from their friends and relatives throughout the walls, existence more than 10000 people tried to make it across hundreds who killed. and mikhail gorbachev played a crucial role making a peaceful re unification possible. ah, come here to this gate. mister gorbachev. open this gate. ah mister gorbachev, tear down this wall. i in 1989 mikhail gorbachev visited germany promoting perestroika and glass. no, see, my heritage got about and people longing for change quickly followed as i did

the leadership of the communist party and moscow was much more open, much smarten reacting on the political questions all the time. ah. i think that he wanted to make the, the leaders of the eastern world understand you have to accept that we live in times of changing. and if we don't react, we will be pushed by side. i 1st work on improving relations between the east and west. gorbachev was awarded the nobel peace prize. it was even named twice as time. magazines man of the year. now in 2014 germany marked a quarter century since the fall of the boat enrolled. gorbachev was a special guest at that ceremony. look right here. a visit to the infamous check point charlie, which had previously divided the city between soviet and western control and

released one of 8000 balloons illuminating where the world used to be at a time. gorbachev praise relations between the russian and german people who still i'm proud of what we've achieved together. i think that both people of russia and germany are proud of the fact that we are united. and that's our relationship is exemplary. but bear in mind that many unhappy about it, but it suits us, doesn't it? and judging from experience when russia and germany are on friendly terms, europe is calm and happy is good for them. and it's good for the world. and former austria and chancellor wolfgang schedule told us that gorbachev the role in the reification of germany. pay of the way for i'm a couple relations between moscow and nothing. this is his legacy that with his decision to make it possible

a peaceful relief occasion of europe, a peaceful, really vacation of germany, to free to let these, these former satellites, countries of poland, bold picks, the cetera go independently. it was in a great decision, a great and, and courageous decision. and the fact to eat, made it possible with these, especially with unification of germany. that russia and germany can really now forge in lasting friendship for the years to come for the, for the future. this was the decisive moment in history. i know there are some reluctance ease and negative views in russia today. but i think all this is a great legacy. what michelle gorbachev gave to the world, especially to europe. which of course, is not only known for his new political thinking policies towards the west, but also for his love of western culture. during his time he,

he rubbed elbows and while schmoozing meet and greets with all sorts of hollywood stars, he was also featured in a european clothing campaign. even guest starred in a pizza hut commercial oh, he's bad all of us. we discourage his wisdom and his vision, and of course he's tremendous with responsible for change to with mm ah,

a show at the city will know what kind of you buy a blue, a, a barcode. and gorbachev implemented a spread of domestic social, political, and economic reforms. including the complete democratization of soviet policies and

a boost for the economy. of course, no discussion of soviet policies will be complete without mentioning glass nor stole perestroika. glass north was the transparent discussion of political and social issues, as well as the free circulation of news and information. as a result or ecological problems, politicians, privileges, or soviet bureaucracy will all fag game to discuss. and perestroika was the democratic restructuring of the soviet political and economic system. however, many thing the perestroika was a failure. it led to a total collapse in industry and a dia shortage of consumer goods leading to well, a long queues and amazing hardships when it comes to just the most basic of necessities for daily life. week economy sparking normal social on the rest of the voltage is right here. thousands of angry citizens protest in the streets over poor living conditions and political scientists to be interest law for nick and nick.

one of the people felt betrayed off the politicians back track on promises of prosperity and democracy. a democracy without market economy. that didn't work for one simple reason. when people were allowed to ask questions. the worst question they asked in economy of deficit was, where is the food? where are the commodities when they were allowed to watch television including the west and television, they saw the western stores and they compared the 2 stores in the soviet union. and their question was absolutely evident. so where is all this? and of course they blamed the communist party and just my strong criticism of perestroika and its consequences. a gorbachev insisted that it wasn't a failure, it had just been derailed. you will get them. i don't agree when people say the

perestroika failed, it didn't fail, it was disrupted derailed. well, i'll give you some perspective at the beginning of 990 gorbachev approval rating in the us. it's all stored at 70 percent. by the end of the year, it was only about 20. so good people felt let down by perestroika when there hopes for a better future, which not met the same time go which officer rating in the west was just going through the roof. 81 percent in america, 75 percent approval in germany in britain, 70 percent in italy and jack matlock who once served as us, i'm pass it on to the soviet union or counts. the difficulties that go about just based he was very much a transformative leader. i think he was trying to, number one, put it into the cold war, which with cooperation was to american presidents. he was able to do that. but he also wanted to free his own people from the straight jacket that the comment system

had imposed. he would say in private, at times that a russian history was such that the country had always been ruled top down. but if you look out at the world at the time, the successful countries, the ones that were adapt and were ruled bottom up. and so he said, you know, our task is to turn russian history upside down to let our people begin to rule themselves. so to speak and but that he could not reinvent history or reinvent the russian people and that. busy the country was not yet accustomed to making the sort of choices that were necessary so it was going to take time. so i think he was realistic about that. this learn a bit more here and are rolling breaking news coverage at all the international.

there's url grass mooted, executive vice president of the erasure center. always good to see you. so thanks so much for joining us here in our international though, of course, that's an ice breaker news coverage is mocking at the end of an era. what's your overall opinion of gorbachev? domestic policies and as an awful lot that's been said about them. if you speak to the average every day russian, you might get a very mixed reaction to do you think it's policies, what generally beneficial for the government and the people of the soviet union at the time? i think, well, obviously it goes different viewpoints and, and, and what happens in a 90 perhaps that could have been managed better, but i think gorbachev's is an amazing diplomat. i, i view only, he was very courageous and a visionary, a leader. and i think be cared about his people and about not only the russian people, but i think the people the world. and i think he is his efforts actually open

things up. and were there challenges? yeah. but did i do? i think things in general was there an opportunity that was created to better everyone, not just rushing, but i think everyone and i think he had a vision for that direction. but ms. visions, earl, so sort of jump him. why do you think he achieved such a celebrity status with his western professional partners? i think he broke them all the he stepped out of the basically step out of the box. and i think, i think there was a positive direction and i think a lot of times we'd look at other people and other leaders that you know they, we can use some today stuff out of the box and look at the opportunity. now maybe those opportunities partners are embracing and

realize that maybe they're not, but somebody has to step take that step forward to provide that very, very big step forward url. as you say, when it comes to you know, overseeing a thinking shit. so to speak, person has proven, has said in, in, in recent times that, well, you know, back then the united states like the soviet union because we were a week and we needed their help. how do you assess that statement? i don't necessarily. yeah. i mean, i don't necessarily go along with that. now, i'm not saying there were people within the u. s. higher that you'd that way. i wouldn't say most americans feel like that the were there. i mean was think that i've, i've interviewed a lot of different congress than and, and bassett, or mean many people and.