"I am ending my activities at the post of President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. I am taking this decision out of considerations based on principle. I have firmly stood for the independence, self-rule of nations, the sovereignty of the republics, but at the same time for preservation of the union state, the unity of the country. Events went a different way. The policy prevailed of dismembering this country and disuniting the state, with which I cannot agree. And after the Alma-Ata meeting and the decisions taken there, my position on this matter has not changed. Besides, I am convinced that decisions of such a scale should have been made on the basis of a popular will. Nevertheless, I will do all I can to insure that the agreements that were signed there lead to real concordance in society and facilitate the exit from this crisis."

Mikhail Gorbachev, televised resignation address, Moscow, 25 December 1991. Gorbachev resigned as President of the Soviet Union on the same day the Supreme Soviet voted to dissolve the USSR. The Soviet flag was lowered over the Kremlin and replaced with the Russian tricolour.