Day 189 Roundup: Putin Pays Tribute to Gorbachev, Russia Reportedly Welcomes Permanent IAEA Mission at Nuclear Plant

Narrative B

Given that Putin had been a KGB agent in east Germany when Gorbachev oversaw the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Pres. was never fond of the USSR's last leader - a fact reflected in how carefully worded his condolence message was. After all, it's Putin that described the collapse of the Soviet Union as the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century."