Mikhail Gorbachev’s attempts to reach nuclear disarmament with Ronald Reagan went much further than an agreement “to reduce medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe” (Report, 30 August). In the 1986 Reykjavik talks, Gorbachev proposed the “zero option” of jointly getting rid of all their nuclear weapons, but Reagan refused.
Also, the democracy that Gorbachev wanted needed time to develop the civil society that had never existed, plus a sounder economy than was the case. The US, aided and abetted by the UK, pushed immediately for privatisation and a free economy and this led inevitably to the exploitation of the Soviet Union’s vast natural resources and the advent of the Russian oligarchs.
What Russia needed was a new Marshall plan to underpin the rouble, but the west wasn’t interested. When the rouble finally collapsed in 1998, it caused immense poverty in Russia and the people looked for a strong nationalist leader. Putin was waiting in the wings and has been in power ever since. In effect, Putin is the consequence of the western failure to understand the basic requirements needed to underpin a new democracy.
Michael Meadowcroft
Leeds
• When I photographed Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev (post-presidency) in the British embassy in Moscow, along with Margaret and Denis Thatcher, many years ago, I couldn’t help but notice how utterly different the two couples were. Denis was continually topping up Margaret’s whisky glass while they snarked at each other, whereas Mikhail and Raisa arrived hand in sprightly hand, walking up the embassy driveway smiling at each other. When asked during an interview about Margaret Thatcher’s role in ending the cold war, Gorbachev stopped, visibly stunned by the absurdity of the question. She was a minnow, he was a mensch.
Bill Robinson
Norwich
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