The first and last president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, believes that the Soviet authorities initially underestimated the scale of the problems of interethnic relations in the Soviet Union and the need to renew it. The country could have been saved even after the August 1991 coup with the help of the Union of Sovereign States, he was quoted as saying by the TACC.
"At first we underestimated the scale and depth of the problems of interethnic relations, relations between the center and the republics. We did not immediately come to the conclusion that the union should be renewed," Gorbachev told TASS on Saturday.
According to him, the goal of the Soviet authorities was "to create a real federation with real sovereignty of the republics, which delegate to the center part of the powers." "Security, defense, transport network, single currency, guaranteeing human rights under the draft union agreement were in the sphere of union structures. "I am sure that this was a real option, most republics would support it, but the coup thwarted this opportunity," Gorbachev said.
"But even after the coup, when the republics declared their independence and the positions of the president of the USSR were severely weakened, I believed that the union could be preserved. And I proposed that we agree on a Union of Sovereign States, "said the first president of the USSR.
He noted that the Union of Sovereign States would become a confederate state with even broader powers to the republics. "In particular, they would become members of the United Nations, and the Union would retain a seat on the Security Council. The unity of the armed forces, the control of nuclear weapons would be maintained. "I am sure that this would be much better than what happened after the collapse of the Union," Gorbachev concluded.
Gorbachev called the time before he left office "dark days" for himself, the Soviet Union and Russia. Defending the presidency by force would lead to a sharp civil conflict with unpredictable consequences, he said.
"These were black days for the Union and Russia. And black days for me, although I did not lose my temper. I signed a decree on the resignation of the president of the USSR, I think I had no right to act differently," Gorbachev said. that "he could not turn to some power option for two reasons." "First, in this case, I would cease to be myself. it should be allowed, "said the last president of the USSR.
Gorbachev said he did not agree with the view that the Soviet Union could have been saved if it had not been for his decision to resign as president. "Immediately after the Belovezhskaya agreement, I issued a statement emphasizing that the fate of a multinational state cannot be determined by the will of the leaders of three republics, this issue must be resolved only by constitutional means. "I hastily condemned the appearance of this document - it was not discussed either by the population or by the Supreme Councils of the republics on whose behalf it was signed," he said.
The first president of the Soviet Union recalled that at that time a draft treaty on the Union of Sovereign States was being discussed in the parliaments of the republics. "I must say that I relied on democratically elected parliaments, although the Belovezhskaya agreement did not even provide for the ratification of this document. But at this critical moment they did not speak. In addition, they decided to recall their representatives from the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and 12 "December, practically without discussion, to applause, they ratified the Belovezhskaya agreement. Let me remind you, among other things, what position the Russian Communists took at the time - to overthrow Gorbachev," he concluded.
Gorbachev resigned as President of the USSR on December 25, 1991, at which point the Soviet Union ceased to exist.
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