Gorbachev warns of 'dangerous point' as US-Russia ties sour
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev is warning the world has reached a "dangerous point" as tensions between Russia and the United States spike over the Syria conflict (AFP Photo/Joseph Eid)
Moscow (AFP) - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned on Monday that the world has reached a "dangerous point" as tensions between Russia and the United States spike over the Syria conflict.
Relations between Moscow and Washington -- already at their lowest since the Cold War over the Ukraine conflict -- have soured further in recent days as the United States pulled the plug on Syria talks and accused Russia of hacking attacks.
The Kremlin has suspended a series of nuclear pacts, including a symbolic cooperation deal to cut stocks of weapons-grade plutonium.
"I think the world has reached a dangerous point," Gorbachev, 85, told state news agency RIA Novosti.
"I don't want to give any concrete prescriptions but I do want to say that this needs to stop. We need to renew dialogue. Stopping it was the biggest mistake."
As the last leader of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev oversaw an easing of decades of tensions with the West that helped to end the Cold War.
He signed several landmark nuclear disarmament deals with Washington aimed at defusing the standoff between the two superpowers.
"It is necessary to return to the main priorities. These are nuclear disarmament, the fight against terrorism, the prevention of an environmental disaster," he said.
"Compared to these challenges, all the rest slips into the background." 
Asian shares were mixed Thursday, with Samsung Electronics in focus after the stock plunged in reaction to the latest problems with the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.
Samsung fell 3.81 percent in early Asian trade to 1,616,000 won ($1,451.35) a share after news that the South Korean tech giant asked its global partners to stop all sales and exchanges of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone and advised users to switch their phones off.
There were reports at the weekend that devices given to customers to replace their fire-prone phones were also catching fire, and Samsung said on Monday that it had adjusted shipment volumes on Note 7s so it could focus on quality control.
More broadly, South Korea's Kospi was down 0.1 percent in morning trade.
In Japan, the Nikkei was 1.22 percent higher, likely due to the surge in oil prices and a weaker yen. The dollar/yen was up 0.35 percent at 103.94, from 102 levels last week.
Japanese airbag maker Takata fell 6.67 percent after Wall Street Journal
reported that the embattled firm was considering a U.S. bankruptcy
filing in order to clear a path for an external investor to take a stake
in the company.
Mainland Chinese markets opened positive; the Shanghai composite was up 0.1 percent while the Shenzhen composite was up 0.052 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was higher by 0.64 percent.
Australia's ASX 200 was up 0.33 percent, supported by a 2.33 percent rise in the energy subindex.