Gorbachev explained why Shushkevich wasn't arrested

The first president of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev told why the participants Bialowieza agreement were not arrested in 1991.

Those were the chairman of the RSFSR government Boris Yeltsin, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk and the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Belarus Stanislau Shushkevich. He spoke about this in an interview with Tass.

According to Gorbachev, he was unaware of what the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus were planning in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha. He also explained why he didn't arrest them.

"I think that had a scent of a civil war. This is dangerous. It would have looked as if I had gone to any lengths to keep the power, though it should have been done by democratic measures," – Gorbachev said, adding that such a scenario would have provoked "a fire in the country."

Also, the first president of the USSR said that he wanted to avoid blood.

"I did a different thing – I gave up the power. I quitted myself in order to avoid bloodshed. That's all. And they began to rule," – Gorbachev said.