Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail GorbachevREUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva/File Photo

Russia will not honor former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev with a state funeral, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

A Kremlin spokesperson added that the ceremony for Gorbachev will have “elements” similar to a state funeral, but it will not be officially recognized as one. He also said that Putin will not be in attendance.

The last leader of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev, died on Tuesday at the age of 91, Russian media reported, citing officials at the Central Clinical Hospital.

Gorbachev’s office said earlier that he was undergoing treatment at the hospital, the Associated Press reported.

Gorbachev was in power when the Soviet Union disintegrated and his foreign policy led to the end of the Cold War without bloodshed in 1991.

He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.

Putin paid his last respects to Gorbachev on Thursday. The Russian president was shown in a video putting roses besides Gorbachev’s open casket at Central Clinical Hospital.

"Unfortunately, the president's work schedule will not allow him to do this on Sept. 3, so he decided to do it today," Putin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters, Reuters reported.

Peskov confirmed that the Russian government will send a military honor guard to Gorbachev’s funeral. He will be buried at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow after a public ceremony held at the Hall of Columns.

Putin said in a statement after Gorbachev’s death that the last leader of the Soviet Union had a "huge impact on the course of world history" and "deeply understood that reforms were necessary."