The current global situation contains elements of a new Cold War, Mikhail Gorbachev said in an interview with the German Bild newspaper published on its website.

"Rhetoric used by politicians and senior military commanders is getting more and more belligerent, tough doctrines have been emerging," Gorbachev said. "The media have been spreading the news stirring up tensions. Relations between large powers have been deteriorating so one gets a feeling that the world is getting ready for a new war," he added. "In other words, there are all elements of a new Cold War,," Gorbachev said according to TASS News Agency on Saturday.

Russia and Germany need to restore mutual trust and improve bilateral relations, Gorbachev said.

"I believe that we - Russians and Germans - need to restore contacts and improve our relations," he said. "We can’t let all that we achieved in the past be destroyed," the ex-USSR president added.

Gorbachev also said that the German authorities had let relations deteriorate while the German people did not want tensions to rise.

When asked if by "the German authorities" he meant Chancellor Angela Merkel, Gorbachev said that he liked her. "Perhaps this is why I get emotional," he added.

Source: MENA