He stressed that the Nobel Peace Prize is necessary and very important. "It is important that such an award exists, that it is discussed, decided, prepared rather seriously. I think that this is probably something that should not only be preserved but also, if possible, strengthened somehow, extended, because that’s what is lacking," the former USSR president said.

Gorbachev refused to assess recent Nobel Peace Prize laureates saying that the laureate "should be found, not created." "There are people who have done a lot and continue doing a lot in all spheres that are in this or that way connected with politics," he explained. In the issue of awarding the Prize it is first of all necessary to talk about "making such decisions that concern our global world." That is why choosing a laureate should be "a very serious decision that would influence this whole sphere," he added.

On 15 October 1990, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded Mikhail Gorbachev with the Nobel Peace Prize "in recognition of the leading role he has played in the radical changes that have taken place in East-West relations." "East and West, the two mighty power blocs, have managed to abandon their life-threatening confrontation and have, instead, embarked on the long and patient road to cooperation on the basis of negotiation… This is due not least to the fact that the armaments race is ebbing out in our part of the globe… The way in which confrontation has been replaced by cooperation has also had its consequences in other parts of the world. Several regional conflicts have been resolved… These changes have given the United Nations a new lease of life: for the first time since its creation after the Second World War this organization has been able to play the role for which it was originally intended. It can now start to exercise its supremely important responsibility for the creation of an international community based on the rule of law and the establishment of peace between nations," the Nobel Committee said.

According to Alfred Nobel’s will, the Peace Prize is to go to whoever "shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses". In 2015, the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet received the Nobel Peace Prize "fir its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011.".