LONDON, August 31. /TASS/. First and sole Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev did enormous work for the benefit of humankind but was unable to implement all of his designs, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger told BBC’s Newsnight on Wednesday.

Gorbachev "performed great services but he was not able to implement all of his visions," the 99-year-old former US secretary of state said.

"The people of eastern Europe and the German people, and in the end the Russian people, owe him a great debt of gratitude for the inspiration, for the courage in coming forward with these ideas of freedom," he said.

Gorbachev passed away in Moscow on August 30 at the age of 91.