MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered his personal condolences to the widow of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger upon the death of her husband at the age of 100.
"Dear Mrs. Kissinger, please accept [my] deep condolences over the death of your husband, Henry Kissinger," reads the message, which was uploaded to the Kremlin website. Putin described Kissinger as "an outstanding diplomat and wise and far-sighted statesman, who for many decades enjoyed well-deserved authority around the world."
Putin noted that Kissinger's name was inextricably linked with his pragmatic foreign policy line, which made it possible during his tenure as Washington’s top diplomat to ease international tensions and reach highly critical Soviet-US agreements that contributed to strengthening global security.
"I had the opportunity to communicate personally on numerous occasions with this profound, extraordinary personality, and I will undoubtedly keep the brightest memory of him," Putin said.
Kissinger was a frequent visitor to Russia over the years and during such trips the seasoned diplomat and "realist" geopolitical thinker met with Putin on more than ten occasions. Their first meeting was in July 2001, and the last one took place on June 29, 2017. Kissinger believed that Russia should be treated as an important element in the new system of global equilibrium and that a balance between Russia and the United States would enhance stability in the world. He repeatedly expressed the view that Washington should recognize Russia's "hegemony" in the former Soviet republics, from Belarus to Kazakhstan.