Mikhail Gorbachev: ‘It all looks as if the world is preparing for war’

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev urged President Trump and his Russian counterpart to discontinue their budding arms race Thursday amid fears either will trigger an international conflict as their current bilateral relationship evokes memories of decades earlier.

“Politicians and military leaders sound increasingly belligerent and defense doctrines more dangerous. Commentators and TV personalities are joining the bellicose chorus. It all looks as if the world is preparing for war,” Mr. Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s eighth and final leader, wrote in an op-ed published by Time magazine this week.

To prevent as much, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize-winner said U.S. and Russia must cooperate toward fighting terrorism and preventing future wars instead of initiating a new one.

“Relations between the great powers have been going from bad to worse for several years now. The advocates for arms build-up and the military-industrial complex are rubbing their hands. We must break out of this situation. We need to resume political dialogue aiming at joint decisions and joint action,” Mr. Gorbachev wrote.

Specifically, the Cold War-era politician said Mr. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin should work under the auspices of the United Nations to ensure each superpower upholds its promise of reducing nukes around the globe.

“I propose that a Security Council meeting at the level of heads of state adopt a resolution stating that nuclear war is unacceptable and must never be fought,” Mr. Gorbachev wrote. “I think the initiative to adopt such a resolution should come from Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin — the Presidents of two nations that hold over 90% of the world’s nuclear arsenals and therefore bear a special responsibility.”

Mr. Gorbachev said, “No problem is more urgent today than the militarization of politics and the new arms race.

“Stopping and reversing this ruinous race must be our top priority. The current situation is too dangerous,” he wrote.

The Pentagon has deployed thousands of U.S. troops to eastern Europe in recent weeks as NATO forces prepare for the possibility of a Russian invasion similar to what unfolded in Ukraine beginning in 2014. Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin, both critics of NATO, are expected to speak by phone on Saturday, their first discussion since the newly inaugurated U.S. president took office Jan. 20.