Gorbachev not saying goodbye to Kohl

moscow - The former leader of the Soviet Union Michail Gorbachev has denounced for the ceremony in Strasbourg where the recently-deceased German Chancellor Helmut Kohl is commemorated on July 1. Gorbachev told Tuesday that he could not be present for health reasons.

The 86-year-old Gorbachev is similar to Kohl as one of the architects of German reunification in 1990. He was Secretary General of the Soviet Union Communist Party from 1985 to 1991 and President of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991. At the end of 1990 he received the Nobel Peace Prize. The following year the Soviet Union collapsed.

The Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev goes to Kohl's farewell in Strasbourg. This has confirmed a government spokesperson on Tuesday in Moscow.