Russia's Vladimir Putin to miss Mikhail Gorbachev's funeral

Former Soviet leader will not have a full state funeral

Mikhail Gorbachev waves from the Red Square in Moscow during a Revolution Day celebration in November 1989. AP

Gorbachev poses for a picture at the age of 19, wearing the Red Banner of Labour medal he received for driving a combine harvester on the plains of southern Russia. AP

Gorbachev led the Soviet Union from 1985 until its end in 1991. AFP

Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan meet for the first time in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1985. Reuters

Gorbachev and East German communist leader Erich Honecker sing the 'The International', widely regarded as a communist anthem, in East Berlin in April 1986. AFP

Gorbachev and Francois Mitterrand wave during an official trip by the French president to the USSR, in July 1986. AFP

Gorbachev gives a speech in Moscow, during the 18th Congress of the USSR Trade Unions, in February 1987. AFP

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Gorbachev before the start of talks at the Kremlin in March 1987. AFP

Gorbachev waves from the Red Square in November 1987, during celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. AP

Gorbachev and Reagan sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty at the White House in Washington in December 1987. Reuters

Gorbachev and Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle at the end of the Soviet leader's visit to Britain in April 1989. AFP

Gorbachev and his wife Raisa take in the view during a tour of China's Great Wall, in Beijing, in May 1989. AP

Gorbachev and his wife are greeted by cheering crowds in Bonn, Germany, in June 1989. EPA

Pope John Paul II greets Gorbachev at the Vatican in December 1989. AFP

Gorbachev speaks at the Lenin monument in Vilnius, Lithuania, in January 1990. AP

Gorbachev attends a Commission on Security and Co-operation in Europe summit in Paris in November 1990. AFP

US President George Bush and Gorbachev confer in Moscow in July 1991, after the end of a US-Soviet summit dedicated to disarmament. AFP

Gorbachev makes his first appearance after a failed military coup in August 1991. AFP

Gorbachev and British Prime Minister John Major pose for a picture after the Soviet leader's arrival at Lancaster House, London, in July 1991. PA

Gorbachev and his wife shake hands with Mickey and Minnie Mouse at the entrance of Disneyland, Tokyo, in April 1992. AFP

Reagan and Gorbachev with their wives at a farm owned by the Reagans near Santa Barbara, California, in May 1992. Reuters

Gorbachev meets former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger in Moscow in May 1992. AFP

Gorbachev announces his candidacy for the Russian presidency at a press conference in Moscow in March 1996. AFP

Gorbachev wipes his tears as his daughter Irina looks on during a ceremony in Moscow to pay tribute to his late wife Raisa in September 1999. AFP

U2 lead singer Bono, former US president Bill Clinton and Gorbachev attend a dinner hosted by the former Soviet leader at the Russian Embassy in New York in March 2002. AP

US Secretary of State Colin Powell shakes hands with Gorbachev in Washington in April 2001. AFP

Gorbachev and Russian President Vladimir Putin before the start of a news conference in Schleswig, Germany, in December 2004. AP

Bush, Gorbachev and former German chancellor Helmut Kohl hold the 'Point Alpha Award' at the former demarcation line between East and West Germany in June 2005. EPA

Former German chancellor Angela Merkel and Gorbachev talk during the 'Petersburg Dialogue' conference in Wiesbaden, Germany, in October 2007. AFP

Gorbachev meets British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in January 2008 at 10 Downing Street in London. PA

Gorbachev holds talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron in February 2011 at 10 Downing Street in London. PA

Former US President Jimmy Carter shakes hands with Gorbachev during the 12th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Chicago, Illinois, in April 2012. EPA

Gorbachev and Bush shake hands during a commemorative event in Berlin in October 2009. AFP

Gorbachev attends the Moscow premiere of a film made by Werner Herzog and British filmmaker Andre Singer based on their conversations, in Moscow, Russia, in November 2018. AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin has viewed the body of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev but has ruled out attending his funeral, which will be held near the Kremlin.

Mr Putin’s decision partly reflects official ambivalence towards Gorbachev, a controversial figure in Russia due to his role in the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.

A Kremlin spokesman also confirmed that Gorbachev will not have a full state funeral — an event that would require invitations to be sent to world leaders — but the government is helping to organise it.

Russian state television showed Mr Putin visiting the Moscow hospital where Gorbachev’s body is being kept before Saturday’s funeral and placing a bouquet of red roses next to the open casket. He stood in silence for a few moments, bowed his head, touched the coffin, crossed himself and walked away.

“Regrettably, the president’s working schedule wouldn’t allow him to do that on Saturday, so he decided to do that today,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Gorbachev will be buried at Moscow’s Novodevichy cemetery next to his wife, Raisa, after a farewell ceremony at Pillar Hall in the House of the Unions, a mansion near the Kremlin that has served as the venue for state funerals since the Soviet era.

Asked if there would be a state funeral, Mr Peskov said the funeral will have “elements” of state funeral, such as honour guards, and the government will help to organise it. He did not elaborate on how the ceremony would differ from a full-fledged state funeral.

The late leader was lauded in the West for helping to bring an end to the Cold War but is reviled by many at home for actions that led to the 1991 Soviet collapse, which plunged millions into poverty.

Had the Kremlin declared a state funeral, it would have made it harder for Mr Putin to avoid it. A state funeral would also oblige the Kremlin to send invitations to foreign leaders, including some of those angry at Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Mr Putin has previously blamed Gorbachev for failing to secure written commitments from the West that would rule out Nato’s expansion eastward.

In Wednesday’s telegram of condolences released by the Kremlin, Mr Putin praised Gorbachev as a man who left “an enormous impact on the course of world history”.

“He led the country during difficult and dramatic changes, amid large-scale foreign policy, economic and society challenges,” Mr Putin said. “He deeply realised that reforms were necessary and tried to offer his solutions for the acute problems.”