Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - A watan Agusta 1990, gwamnatin Saddam Hussein ta Iraqi ta mamaye Kuwait
Gorbachev ya goyi bayan Shugaba Bush na la'anta shi. Wannan ya haifar da suka daga mutane da yawa a cikin kayan aikin jihar Soviet, waɗanda suka ga Hussein a matsayin babban abokin tarayya a cikin Tekun Fasha kuma suka ji tsoron tsaron lafiyar 'yan ƙasar Soviet 9,000 a Iraki, kodayake Gorbachev ya yi jayayya cewa' yan Iraki sun kasance masu kai hare-hare a cikin halin da ake ciki. A watan Nuwamba Soviets sun amince da kudurin Majalisar Dinkin Duniya da ke ba da izinin amfani da karfi wajen korar sojojin Iraqi daga Kuwait. Gorbachev daga baya ya kira shi "ɓangare" a siyasar duniya, "a karo na farko manyan ƙasashe suka yi aiki tare a cikin rikicin yanki". Duk da haka, lokacin da Amurka ta sanar da shirye-shiryen mamaye ƙasar, Gorbachev ya yi adawa da shi, maimakon haka ya bukaci a sami mafita ta lumana. A watan Oktoba na 1990, an ba Gorbachev kyautar Nobel ta Zaman Lafiya; ya yi farin ciki amma ya yarda da "ra'ayoyi masu rikicewa" game da yabo. Bincike ya nuna cewa kashi 90% na 'yan ƙasar Soviet sun ƙi amincewa da lambar yabo, wanda aka ɗauka a matsayin Yammacin Turai da anti-Soviet.