The last President of the Soviet, Union Mikhail Gorbachev, has died at the age of 91, Russian state media reported last night.

He presided over the dissolution of the huge Communist state which had existed for nearly 70 years.

Mr Gorbachev was the final leader of the communist regime and became head of state in 1988 and its president in March 1990.

Another huge achievement was an arms race treaty he signed with US President Ronald Reagan in 1987.

It lasted more than 30 years and helped to end the Cold War.

Reagan knew Gorby’s vital role in the world, urging him in a 1987 speech: “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Two years later, the Berlin Wall came down.

The eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, he led the Communist Party from 1985 to 1991.

Born to a poor peasant family of Russian and Ukrainian heritage, Gorbachev grew up under the rule of Joseph Stalin and drove combine harvesters on a collective farm.

He then joined the Communist Party which governed the Soviet Union as a one-party state according to Marxist-Leninist rule.

Eventually becoming more interested in social democracy in his political career, or “socialism with a human face”, he had a close friendship with then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

After she became aware he was a potential reformer, he visited Britain at her request in 1984.

At the end of the visit, Mrs Thatcher said: “I like Mr Gorbachev. We can do business together.”

Gorbachev fought for freedom of speech and freedom of the Press which radically changed Soviet political life.

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https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/19660322/mikhail-gorbachev-soviet-union-leader-cold-war-russia-dead/

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