Vladimir Putin will not attend the funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev, the Kremlin said Thursday.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "Putin's work schedule will not allow him to take part in the farewell ceremony for Gorbachev on September 3," adding that the Russian President visited the Central Clinical Hospital today to pay his respects to Gorbachev, laying flowers by the coffin.
A farewell ceremony for Gorbachev, which will be open to the public, is due to take place on Saturday, followed by the funeral later on the same day at Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery.
It is unclear whether Gorbachev will be honored with a state funeral. In a stark contrast to the Kremlin's actions following the death of the former President Boris Yeltsin in 2007, the Russian government did not announce any plans for a state funeral when it released a statement on Gorbachev's death on Wednesday.
stark
英 [stɑːk] 美 [stɑːrk]
adj.明显的
"There will be elements of a state funeral," Peskov said Thursday. "There will be a guard of honor, and a farewell ceremony will be organized. The state will assist in the organization," he added, without providing an explanation or details on how this would differ from ordinary state funerals.
Gorbachev will be buried next to his wife Raisa, who died in 1999, Russian state media RIA Novosti said earlier this week, citing the Gorbachev foundation. The historical cemetery is the final resting place of many notable Russians including the writers Mikhail Bulgakov, Anton Chekhov and Nikolai Gogol, composers Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich and former leaders Yeltsin and Nikita Khrushchev.
Gorbachev grew more critical of Putin and his increasingly restrictive regime in recent years, as he traveled the world promoting free speech and democracy as part of his foundation. Meanwhile Putin blamed Gorbachev for the demise of the USSR, which he considers the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century.
①regime
英 [reɪˈʒiːm] 美 [reɪˈʒiːm]
n.政体;(尤指未通过公正选举的)统治方式;统治制度;政权
②demise
英 [dɪˈmaɪz] 美 [dɪˈmaɪz]
n.消亡;死亡;逝世;倒闭;终止
③geopolitical
英 [ˌdʒiːəʊpəˈlɪtɪkl] 美 [ˌdʒiːoʊpəˈlɪtɪkl]
adj.地缘政治学的
And while Gorbachev himself did not comment on Putin's decision to invade Ukraine, his foundation called for peace negotiations, saying "there is nothing more precious in the world than human lives."
Only a handful of modern Russian leaders were not granted state funerals. The last to be denied the honor was Khrushchev who was deposed in 1964 following his attempts to roll back Stalinist reforms and who died after living in seclusion in 1971. His funeral was held in semi-secrecy because Soviet authorities were worried about protests.
①seclusion
英 [sɪˈkluːʒn] 美 [sɪˈkluːʒn]
n.清静;隐居;与世隔绝
②protest
英 [ˈprəʊtest , prəˈtest]
美 [ˈproʊtest , prəˈtest]
n.抗议;抗议书(或行动);反对
Putin's reaction to Gorbachev's death couldn't have been more different that after the death of Yeltsin, the man who handpicked him as his successor when he was a little-known former KGB agent.
①handpick
英 [ˈhændpɪk] 美 [ˈhændˈpɪk]
v.一手提拔;精心挑选
②successor
英 [səkˈsesə(r)] 美 [səkˈsesər]
n.继承人;继任者;接替者
When Yeltsin died in 2007, Putin almost immediately established a special commission tasked with organizing a state funeral, declared a day of national mourning and ordered flags to fly half staff.
All Russian TV and radio channels were advised to cancel entertainment programming and ordered to broadcast the funeral live. Dozens of foreign dignitaries and former world leaders were in attendance, including the former US presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, former British and Canadian prime ministers John Major and Jean Chrétien and former German President Horst Koehler.
dignitary
英 [ˈdɪɡnɪtəri] 美 [ˈdɪɡnɪteri]
n.显贵;要人;达官贵人
Meanwhile, Gorbachev is unlikely to get many foreign VIP guests at his funeral.
In retaliation for western sanctions, imposed on Russia by western countries over the war on Ukraine, Moscow has banned hundreds of foreign officials from entering Russia.
The long list of leaders currently barred from the country includes US President President Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his predecessor Theresa May, as well as his likely successor Liz Truss, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and many others.
barred
英 [bɑːd] 美 [bɑːrd]
v.阻挡;拦住;禁止，阻止(某人做某事)
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克里姆林宫周四表示，弗拉基米尔·普京（Vladimir Putin）将不会参加米哈伊尔·戈尔巴乔夫（Mikhail Gorbachev）的葬礼。
发言人德米特里·佩斯科夫（Dmitry Peskov）表示，“普京的工作安排不允许他参加9月3日为戈尔巴乔夫举行的告别仪式”。他补充说道，俄罗斯总统今天访问了中央临床医院，向戈尔巴乔夫致敬，并在灵柩旁献花。
戈尔巴乔夫的告别仪式将于周六举行，并将向公众开放，随后将于当天晚些时候在莫斯科的诺沃德维奇公墓举行葬礼。
目前还不清楚是否为戈尔巴乔夫举行国葬。与克里姆林宫在2007年前总统鲍里斯·叶利钦（Boris Yeltsin）去世后采取的行动形成鲜明对比的是，俄罗斯政府在周三就戈尔巴乔夫之死发表声明时，没有宣布任何国葬计划。
佩斯科夫周四表示：“不准备举行国葬”。他补充说，“国家将组织仪仗队及告别仪式”。但没有提供解释或更多的细节来说明这与普通的国家葬礼有什么不同。
俄罗斯国家媒体俄新社本周早些时候援引戈尔巴乔夫基金会的话称，戈尔巴乔将葬在1999年去世的妻子Raisa旁边。公墓是许多俄罗斯名人最后的安息之地，其中包括作家米哈伊尔·布尔加科夫、安东·契诃夫和尼古拉·果戈里、作曲家谢尔盖·普罗科菲耶夫和德米特里·肖斯塔科维奇以及前领导人叶利钦和尼基塔·赫鲁晓夫。
近年来，戈尔巴乔夫在世界各地宣传言论自由和民主，对普京及其日益严苛的政权持批评态度。与此同时，普京指责戈尔巴乔夫导致苏联解体，他认为这是20世纪“最大的地缘政治灾难”。
尽管戈尔巴乔夫本人没有对普京入侵乌克兰的决定发表评论，但他的基金会呼吁进行和平谈判，称“世界上没有什么比人命更宝贵的了。”
只有少数现代俄罗斯领导人没有获准参加国家葬礼。最后一位被剥夺这一荣誉的是赫鲁晓夫，他在1964年试图*翻推**斯大林主义改革后被废黜，并在1971年与世隔绝后去世。因为苏联当局担心抗议活动，他的葬礼被半秘密地举行。
普京对戈尔巴乔夫之死的反应与叶利钦去世后的反应完全不同。叶利钦是一位鲜为人知的前克格勃特工，他亲手挑选了他作为继任者。
2007年叶利钦去世后，普京几乎立即成立了一个特别委员会，负责组织国葬，宣布全国哀悼日，并下令降半旗。
所有俄罗斯电视和广播频道都被要求取消娱乐节目并被要求直播葬礼。数十位外国政要和前世界领导人出席了会议，包括前美国总统比尔·克林顿和乔治·W·布什、前英国和加拿大总理约翰·梅杰和让·克雷蒂安以及前德国总统霍斯特·科勒。
与此同时，戈尔巴乔夫的葬礼上不太可能出现很多国外的重要人物。
为了报复西方国家在俄乌危机中对俄罗斯实施的制裁，莫斯科禁止数百名外国官员进入俄罗斯。
目前被禁止进入俄罗斯的一长串领导人包括美国总统拜登、国务卿安东尼·布林肯和国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀、即将离任的英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊及其前任特雷莎·梅，以及他的可能继任者利兹·特拉斯、日本首相岸田文雄、加拿大总理贾斯汀·特鲁多等。
翻译：老戴
编辑：老张
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