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Moldova’s ex-leader says Gorbachev intended to transform USSR into modern nation

Pyotr Luchinsky emphasized that when Gorbachev launched perestroika, he did not imagine how complicated the situation in the country was

CHISINAU, August 31. /TASS/. Mikhail Gorbachev had sincerely sought to reform the Soviet Union and transform it into a modern and powerful state, however, he did not realize how complicated the situation in the country was, former Moldovan president Pyotr Luchinsky told TASS.

"I knew Mikhail Sergeyevich [Gorbachev] since he had led a party organization in the Stavropol region, and we were friends ever since. I’d like to offer my deepest condolences to his family and friends. Gorbachev left a deep mark by changing the history of the 20th century. There will still be disputes about him - some will be saying that he brought us freedom, others will be blaming him for the demise of the country. But I know only too well that his intentions were absolutely sincere, and everything he did was in pursuit of a natural ambition to transform the Soviet Union into a modern and powerful nation," said Luchinsky, who was a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1990-1991.

"However, when he [Gorbachev] launched perestroika, he did not imagine how complicated the situation in the country was," Moldova’s ex-president said.

Gorbachev, who led the Soviet Union in 1985-1991, died in Moscow on Tuesday. He was 91.

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Mikhail Gorbachev

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