MOSCOW, June 3. /TASS/. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is worried over the militarization of international relations. He shared his concerns in a message timed for the 30th anniversary of his meeting with US President Ronald Reagan in Reykjavik. The statement was published on the website of the Gorbachev Foundation.
"With great concern I have to point to the militarization of international relations. It began not yesterday and not two years ago. It was a departure from the principles that we had formulated together and that made it possible to put an end to the Cold War," Gorbachev says.
"The past few years saw a collapse of trust in relations among the leading powers, which, according to the UN Charter, bear the main responsibility for maintaining international peace and security," he said.
The former Soviet leader recalls that the conflicts that erupted over the past two decades could have been settled by peaceful, political, diplomatic means, but were eventually dealt with from the position of strength.
"That was the case in former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya and Syria. I would like to point out that this failed to bring about a solution to any of the problems. Erosion of international law, disruption of trust, militarization of politics and mentality, and the cult of force were the main outcome," Gorbachev said.
He is certain that world political leaders have a chance to return politics onto the positive track, thereby opening up the way to a nuclear-free world.
"This is precisely what we - veteran politicians, civil society, scientists and all people who care - should emphasize and urge our leaders to do," Gorbachev said.