Putin will not attend Gorbachev’s funeral

The Kremlin has confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev, the final leader of the Soviet Union. Putin’s work schedule will prevent him from attending the ceremony on Saturday, according to spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Gorbachev passed away on Tuesday at the age of 91, and he said that the Russian president had paid his respects at the hospital in Moscow. Although Gorbachev’s reforms contributed to the end of the Cold War, Mr. Putin grieved the fall of the Soviet Union. The dissolution of the USSR, according to the Russian president in 2005, was “the greatest geopolitical calamity of the [20th] Century.”

However, Mr. Putin struck a more amiable tone in his condolence telegram to Gorbachev’s family on Wednesday, referring to him as “a leader and statesman who had a major impact on the course of world history.” On Thursday, Mr. Putin was seen on Russian state television laying red roses next to Gorbachev’s casket at the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow.

There will be other noticeable absences from the burial besides Mr. Putin. In response to Western sanctions implemented as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many of the foreign leaders who would have been anticipated to participate are temporarily prohibited from entering Russian territory. Top politicians from the US, UK, EU, Japan and Canada are among those on the exclusion list, including US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as well as the two candidates vying to succeed him, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.

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