On Saturday, the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, honored late U.S. president George H.W. Bush, citing specifically his efforts to end the Cold War and the arms race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
“Many of my memories are linked to him. We happened to work together in years of great changes. It was a dramatic time demanding huge responsibility from everyone. The result was the end of the Cold War and the nuclear arms race,” Gorbachev said, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency.
“I pay tribute to George Bush’s contribution toward this historic achievement. He was a genuine partner,” the former Soviet leader added.
Bush, the 41st president of the United States, died on Friday at the age of 94. He held talks with Gorbachev, now 87, before the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and signed a historic arms control agreement with him.
The former president — and father of another president, George W. Bush — served in World War II, took part in the Texas oil boom, and led the U.S. through the Gulf War in 19990-1991.
George Herbert Walker Bush is missed around the world, even in Russia.
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