Gorbachev Takes Step Toward Political Arena

MOSCOW — Mikhail S. Gorbachev took a step toward re-entering politics by announcing Tuesday that he is co-sponsoring a conference on ethnic conflicts.

The former Soviet president said his foundation would join with a Russian political party, the Party for Economic Freedom, in organizing the conference in March.

Gorbachev has said he does not plan to re-enter the political arena as an elected official of any political party. But he did say he would welcome positive political developments that could result from the conference and admitted they could set the foundation for a future political bloc.