NEW YORK, August 31. /TASS/. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was an honest negotiator whose word could be counted on, the New York Times correspondent Peter Baker quoted Former US Secretary of State (1989-1992) who worked with Gorbachev, James Baker, as saying on Twitter.

"History will remember Mikhail Gorbachev as a giant who steered his great nation towards democracy. He played the critical role in a peaceful conclusion of the Cold War by his decision against using force to hold the empire together. I found him to be an honest broker and could count on his word despite domestic pressure in Moscow," Baker said.

Baker held talks with Gorbachev in 1990, when the Soviet leader agreed to let a united Germany join NATO. The possibility of limiting further NATO expansion to the east was also discussed at the time.

The first and only USSR president passed away on August 30 at the age of 91.