Kremlin: Gorbachev's romanticism about the West was not justified

The Kremlin on Wednesday hailed former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as a statesman who will go down in history, but said his "romanticism" about prospects for a rapprochement with the West had been misplaced.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the hopes of Gorbachev, who died on Tuesday aged 91, for cordial relations between the Soviet Union and the West "did not work out," adding that the "bloodthirstiness of our opponents showed itself."