The 85-year-old, who was the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union and its Communist Party, said he believed it looked "as if the world is preparing for war”.
The ‘glasnost’ Cold War politician made the comments in a piece for Time magazine ahead of Theresa May’s first meeting with Mr Trump today.
“The world today is overwhelmed with problems. Policymakers seem to be confused and at a loss,” he begins.
“But no problem is more urgent today than the militarisation of politics and the new arms race. Stopping and reversing this ruinous race must be our top priority.
“The current situation is too dangerous.”
The Russian-Ukrainian describes how troops, tanks and armoured personnel carriers are being brought to Europe.
He also writes how Nato and Russian forces and weapons, once deployed at a distance, are at “point-blank” range of one another.
The frequently vocal critic, once a sceptic of Russian Boris Yeltsin’s presidency, also said state budgets were struggling to fund people’s essential social needs but that military spending is growing.
He talks of submarines whose “single salvo” is capable of devastating half a continent.
“Politicians and military leaders sound increasingly belligerent and defence doctrines more dangerous,” said Mr Gorbachev.
“Commentators and TV personalities are joining the bellicose chorus. It all looks as if the world is preparing for war.”
Mr Gorbachev, who is credited with aiding the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Cold War, played a part in nuclear disarmament in the 1980s.
Eighty per cent of nuclear weapons accumulated during the Cold War years have apparently been decommissioned and destroyed.
To echo the November 1985 first summit between Mr Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan in Geneva, which concluded "nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought", Mr Gorbachev called for a replica meeting at the UN Security Council.
According to a BBC article, in September 2016, America had 1,367 strategic nuclear warheads, Russia had 1,796 and the UK had 120.
“I think the initiative to adopt such a resolution should come from Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin – the Presidents of two nations that hold over 90 per cent of the world’s nuclear arsenals and therefore bear a special responsibility,” he said, before quoting President Franklin D Roosevelt.
“The time to decide and act is now.”
Mr Gorbachev’s comments follow two US congressmen submitting a bill restricting Mr Trump’s ability to launch a first nuclear strike, and details of a failed UK nuclear test.
Unconfirmed reports also say China has moved long-range missiles to the Russian border.
/The Independent/
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