Speaking at a Saturday event commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's fall, former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev said the West's "triumphalism" has pushed tensions between the world's major powers to dangerous heights.
"The world is on the brink of a new Cold War," he said in a speech reported by The Associated Press. "Some are even saying that it's already begun."
Gorbachev blamed the West, particularly the United States, for the current upheaval in Ukraine. He called for international sanctions against Russia to be lifted, saying they could render Europe "irrelevant." President Barack Obama addressed those sanctions in a speech on Friday, saying they are in place because of Russia's ongoing actions in support of separatist militants in Ukraine.