Former Soviet leader Gorbachev： The disintegration of the Soviet Union was due to personal ambition.

　　[Global Times special correspondent in Russia and Germany Wang Jiabo Aoki Global Times reporter Gu Di Liu Yupeng Yu Xiang] According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, a spokesman for the Russian Liberal Democratic Party said that at 4 pm on the 8 th, the party held a rally in Manige Square in Moscow to protest the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Belovezh Agreement. Twenty-five years ago, they held a rally in this square to protest against the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The Russian Communist Party said that it would hold a hearing in the small hall of the State Duma to discuss the Belovezh Agreement and Yeltsin’s overall policy. Zyuganov, chairman of the Russian Communist Party, suggested that the Yeltsin Center should be banned from activities in Russia, because it was Yeltsin who caused the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Kashin, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party, said that a large-scale event will be held on the birthday of Stalin on December 21, during which the Belovezh Agreement will be discussed to denounce the acts that caused the disintegration of a powerful country. However, other political parties, including the ruling United Russia Party, have not announced any activity plans.

　　On December 8, 1991, Shushkevich, then chairman of the Belarusian Supreme Soviet, received Russian President Yeltsin and Ukrainian President kravchuk at the hunting palace near Belovezh and held secret talks. The three men signed the Belovezh Agreement on the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States, declaring that the Soviet Union no longer exists "according to international law and geopolitical status quo". Then on December 25th, Soviet President Gorbachev announced his resignation, and the Soviet Union officially disintegrated.

　　Russian Interfax news agency reported on the 7th that Gorbachev said in an interview with the agency that the disintegration of the Soviet Union was caused by the personal ambition and power desire of the participants in the Belovezh Agreement. At that time, the Soviet Union might have survived, but he failed to stop those who were eager to split the country. "I am saddened by the disintegration of the Soviet Union. I called for the preservation of the Soviet Union everywhere, but the people remained silent. It is normal for someone to want to be president. At that time, Russian leaders took the lead in splitting the Soviet Union. " Regarding the role played by the West in the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev said that all the faults should not be blamed on the Western countries. When the West saw what happened in the Soviet Union, they were happy to rub their hands there, not only watching, but also participating.

　　According to a poll released by the Levada Center of Russia, an independent investigation agency, 51% of Russians think that the disintegration of the Soviet Union could have been avoided, 56% of the respondents feel sorry for the Soviet Union’s disappearance, and only 29% of the respondents think that the disintegration of the Soviet Union is inevitable. When explaining the reasons for their negative attitude towards the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the two options most recognized by the respondents were that the unified economic system was destroyed (53%) and people lost the feeling that they were citizens of a great country (43%). 29% of the respondents believe that the reason for the disintegration of the Soviet Union is that "the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed the Belovezh Agreement irresponsibly and without foundation", and 23% saw "the conspiracy of external hostile forces" in the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Gora zhdanov, deputy director of the Levada Center, said that although the nostalgia for the Soviet Union in Russian society is decreasing, it is still very common among the elderly.

　　Sputnik news agency & radio said on the 8th that the results of the "Satellite Viewpoint" poll showed that 69% of Germans, 55% of French and 51% of Italians believed that after the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States became the only superpower, but it failed to play the role of a world leader. Only 24% of German respondents, 35% of French respondents and 42% of Italian respondents believe that the United States is qualified for this role.