BERLIN (TheBlaze/AP) — Former Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev — the man who oversaw the breakup of the Soviet Union — said tensions between the major powers have put the world "on the brink of a new Cold War."
Former Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev stands in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014. Gorbachev attended the symposium "New Policy Forum," which was organized on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. (AP Photo/dpa, Jens Kalaene)
He accused the West, particularly the United States, of giving in to "triumphalism" after the collapse of the communist bloc a quarter century ago.
Gorbachev spoke Saturday at an event marking the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, close to the city's iconic Brandenburg Gate.
Gorbachev called for new trust to be built through dialogue with Moscow, and suggested the West should lift sanctions imposed against senior Russian officials over its actions in eastern Ukraine.
He says failure to achieve security in Europe would make the continent irrelevant in world affairs.
Gorbachev is widely remembered for his policy of glasnost, or "openness," as he worked with President Ronald Reagan to ease tensions between the world's superpowers and shepherded the USSR through its transformation into the Commonwealth of Independent States in the early 90s.
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