Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev listens during a conference in Moscow in 2001.

Story highlights

NEW: Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev says he's left hospital, news agency says

NEW: He says he is not feeling "well" yet but is pleased to be back at work

After a disease recurrence, "I'm monitored, wires all over me," he told a radio station earlier

Gorbachev suffers from a severe form of diabetes, according to state media

Moscow CNN  — 

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has left a hospital and is back at work, Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti reported Friday.

Asked by RIA Novosti how he was feeling, he said that “well” was an overstatement, but that he was aiming for satisfactory and it was “already not bad” to be back at work.

The former leader had told a radio station, Russia News Service, on Thursday that he had been admitted to a hospital with “a disease recurrence,” the news agency reported earlier Friday.

“I’m monitored, wires all over me,” Gorbachev was quoted as saying to the station.

Gorbachev suffers from a severe form of diabetes and has often received treatment in German hospitals, according to RIA Novosti.

He was President of the Soviet Union from 1985 until his resignation in 1991, during which time he embarked on a process of change and increased openness to the West that became known as “perestroika.”

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for helping end the Cold War.