MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. The Soviet Union’s former president, Nobel Peace laureate Mikhail Gorbachev, believes that Vladimir Putin is in the right place.

"I believe he is there where he should be," Gorbachev told the on-line resource Meduza, when asked if he liked Putin.

Gorbachev said Russia was to be prevented from collapse by all means.

"We have to agree with this, despite all the miscalculations and mistakes," Gorbachev said, adding that he had met with Putin several times.

On Friday, Putin congratulated Gorbachev upon his birthday to note his international authority and contribution to the implementation of national projects.

Gorbachev turned 87 on March 2. He was the last general secretary of the Communist Party’s Central Committee and the first and only president of the Soviet Union (1990-1991). Gorbachev is a Nobel Peace prize winner (1990).