Gorbachev proposes establishing global peace movement

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 16, 2013) Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said he was concerned with the high number of armed conflicts around the world and that he proposed the creation of a global peace movement.

“Something is not working in the world, the arms race is on again. Either protest movements or conflicts between tribes and entire nations are everywhere. We need a powerful peace movement, a global movement,” Gorbachev said on Tuesday at a meeting with UN Foundation executives.

Gorbachyov said that former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and he “wrote that nuclear war is unacceptable and there can not be a winner in it” when they were in Geneva.

“It is possible to spread the movement. It is also possible to ruin yourself and the planet in such a way. It is necessary to unfurl the banner of the fight to preserve peace. The UN must take the construction of the new order in hand, all the rest are sorting things out,” Gorbachev said.

The UN Foundation was established in 1998 by U.S. businessman Ted Turner. The foundation is a private charity organization. The key directions of its activities are supporting children’s healthcare, ensuring gender equality, energy development and environment protection.

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former presidents of a number of countries and public figures are among the foundation executives.