Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled with an "authoritarian nature" at times but that was needed, and now Russia needs to stay Democratic, former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev said.
"Faced with a crisis that he inherited from his predecessor, President Vladimir Putin succeeded in stabilizing the situation, preserving the Russian state and strengthening its economic position," Gorbachev wrote in Time's "The 100 Most Influential People" edition.
Gorbachev warned that Russia, however, needs to be a Democratic government if it wants to continue to grow and be a major player in the world.
"In the initial phase, certain measures of authoritarian nature — a kind of manual control — were justified," Gorbachev wrote. "The costs: a diminished parliament, judiciary and civil society and less media independence. With time, the flaws became more evident. Economic growth slowed even before deterioration of relations with the West and sanctions, increasingly affecting lives.
"Today, even as the international agenda continues to be important, equally urgent are Russia's domestic problems … I am convinced that Russia can succeed only through Democracy."
Russia's current relationship with the United States is fractured, and it got worse after the U.S. launched a barrage of missiles at a Syrian air base two weeks ago because Syria is a Russian ally.
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