Signatory to USSR’s Collapse Rejects Gorbachev, Putin Criticism

The Soviet Union collapsed 25 years ago this month when the leaders of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine signed a document declaring the USSR dissolved.  Russia’s President Vladimir Putin called it the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. The leader of Belarus at the time, Stanislav Shushkevich, hosted the historic meeting.  In an exclusive interview with VOA’s Daniel Schearf in Minsk, he expressed no regrets but warned that Putin intends to revive the Russian empire.