Mikhail Gorbachev, 78, the last leader of the Soviet Union, was interviewed Thursday by Associated Press reporter Dan Perry about two decades after the Communist governments in Europe began to fall, culminating in his own ouster as Soviet president in 1991. On United Russia, the dominant party led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and the Russian government in general:

In some of his strongest criticism of his successors, Gorbachev likened Putin's party to the worst of the Communists he once led and said that Russia today is a country where the parliament and the judiciary are not fully free. "I criticize United Russia a lot, and I do it directly. It is a party of bureaucrats and the worst version of the CPSU [Communist Party of the Soviet Union]. Regarding our parliament, I cannot say that it is independent, [and] also our judiciary does not fully comply with the provisions of the constitution."

On the worldwide economic meltdown:

Gorbachev seemed to view the global meltdown as partly the result of years of Western hubris and excess. "The American media trumpeted ... about the victory in the Cold War, that socialism is down. This disease of extreme self-confidence led to it -- the [belief] that things would always go on this way. ... I think that now everyone is learning a hard lesson. ... It is necessary to overcome these mistakes of super-consumerism, of super-profits." The answer? A composite system that incorporates "the past experience of all that the capitalist system brings, like competitiveness, and what socialism gives -- especially a social safety net."

On the Soviet breakup and prospects for reuniting:

"I was a resolute opponent of the breakup of the union," he said, adding that he still holds out hope that one day Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus will join with Russia in forming a new union.

On his own reduced political fortunes and his legacy:

"Personally, as a politician, I lost. But the idea that I conveyed and the project that I carried out, it played a huge role in the world and the country. But now the situation is such that more and more people are starting to understand what Gorbachev did. ... Anyway, we have gone far, and there's no return.