Abstract
"Boris Yeltsin and Mikhaïl Gorbachev moved toward destruction of the system that no longer could sustain the Soviet people. I'm not sure I could have had the guts to do that myself. This is a very important change. It gave Russia her freedom.? Vladimir Putin said that while being interviewed by Time, after his nomination as the man of the year, by the magazine. Powerful, sure of himself, Putin knows something has changed in Russia, something he is largely responsible for. From now on communism belongs to the past. The party still exists, but we cannot deny that a new system was built up. This new system was contributing both to the growth of the G.D.P and to the strengthening of Russia's place in international relationshions.
