Last Soviet Leader Gorbachev Marks 90th Birthday In Quarantine

(@FahadShabbir)

Last Soviet leader Gorbachev marks 90th birthday in quarantine

Moscow, March 2 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Mar, 2021 ) :Mikhail Gorbachev, the historic reformer who presided over the collapse of the Soviet Union, marked his 90th birthday in quarantine Tuesday and like everyone else is "tired" of virus restrictions, his spokesman said.

Congratulations poured in from around the world, with President Vladimir Putin, US leader Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel all sending their best wishes, he added.

"He is in quarantine in hospital for the duration of the pandemic," Vladimir Polyakov, spokesman for the Gorbachev Foundation, told AFP.

"He is tired of this, like the rest of us." In power between 1985 and 1991, Gorbachev pushed for reforms to achieve "glasnost" (openness) and "perestroika" (restructuring) but his policies eventually led to the demise of the Soviet Union.

After the Berlin Wall fell, he won the 1990 Nobel Peace prize for "the radical changes in East-West relations." Gorbachev, the first Russian leader to reach the age of 90, will mark his birthday with family and friends and has already received a "heap" of messages from around the world, his spokesman said.

Gorbachev would talk to his family and friends in a socially-distanced setting, possibly by video link. "We've set everything up," Polyakov added.

He said that Gorbachev had passed the time in isolation "editing books and articles".