Former Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev said he will not flee Russia no matter what happens to him.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said Friday he is not going to leave Russia whatever happens, adding that Russian people have a lot to be proud of, as well as serious grounds to be patriots.

"No matter what happens to me, I am not going to flee [Russia], I could have fled, but no, I think it's the last thing to do," Gorbachev said in an interview with Russia's Rossyia 24 channel.

Answering the question what he would like to wish ahead of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Victory over Nazi Germany, Gorbachev said "Russian people should be proud and have all grounds for patriotism."

Former Soviet leader stressed that we live in a global world and that's why the attempts of the United States to "become isolated," as well as such attempts of any other state, do not work.

Speaking about US policy, Gorbachev noted it is largely determined by the military-industrial complex. He added that he has repeatedly expressed the idea, including during his visits to the United States, that this country needs own "perestroika."

Perestroika, which literally translates as "restructuring", was a political movement within the Communist party of the USSR initiated by Gorbachev during the late 1980s aiming to restructure the Soviet economy and its politics.