Word: kremlin
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...West, he repeatedly pointed to the failure of Soviet society to fulfill the promise of Communist ideology. Sakharov's writings on domestic affairs irked the leadership almost as much as his criticism of Brezhnev's foreign policy, which he characterized as imperialist and expansionist. His mistrust of Kremlin intentions was so strong that he said in 1983 that it might be best for the U.S. to "spend a few billion dollars on MX missiles" in order to bargain more effectively with the Soviets...
...second session of the Congress of People's Deputies had barely begun last week when a bald, stoop-shouldered man hesitantly made his way to the front of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses. Mikhail Gorbachev motioned for Deputy Andrei Sakharov to step up to the podium, then settled back in his seat, not quite sure what to expect...
...solving economic problems and ethnic tensions. At times last week, Moscow's maestro tried to orchestrate the debate, cutting off talk with a curt "That's all." Still, plenty of sour notes were struck. The Armenian delegation stormed out in protest, radical Lithuanians vented their mistrust of the Kremlin, and ordinary Deputies griped about empty food stores. At one point, a stung Gorbachev even flared, "Don't direct any accusations at me. Just calm down...
...them for racing "like firemen, with clanging bells" to abolish the constitutional guarantee of Communist Party rule. The Congress decided not to take up the contentious question of Article 6, voting 1,138 to 839, with 56 abstentions. But the margin of victory was not so comfortable that the Kremlin could indefinitely ignore the East European-like rush to multiparty politics. Boris Yeltsin, the ex-Politburo member turned radical populist, urged the leadership to learn the lessons of East Germany, where reforms were delayed so long that they were eventually accomplished within a week -- "without ((Erich)) Honecker...
...that Gorbachev has no clear policies for the future. As Deputy Nina Dedeneva, a textile worker from Omsk, complained at last week's session, "People have ceased to believe in perestroika because the difficulties have only increased, while the period for overcoming them has become too long." Now the Kremlin has asked the people for another five years, and that could prove to be more time than Gorbachev can afford...