MINSK, August 31. /TASS/. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko expressed his condolences to the relatives and close ones of Mikhail Gorbachev, noting that the first President of the USSR made a major personal contribution to nuclear disarmament and defusing international tensions.

"Mikhail Sergeyevich made a major personal contribution to defusing international tensions and to nuclear disarmament in late 20th century. He honestly believed that rebuilding the society upon principles of glasnost, popular rule and openness is possible," he said in his condolences message, according to the presidential press office.

Lukashenko noted that he received the news of demise of Gorbachev, "whose life was closely tied to the fate of our common Homeland," with sadness.

Gorbachev occupied the top office for six years. He declared the new course almost immediately after his appointment as Communist Party Secretary General in 1985. Later, he headed the Supreme Soviet (Council) of the USSR. He proposed to establish the office of the president and to cancel the constitutional article regarding the leading role of the Communist Party. During that period, many languages of the world adopted Russian words "perestroika" and "glasnost." Gorbachev resigned on December 25, 1991, simultaneously with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.