MOSCOW, Jan. 29 -- The United States is drawing Russia into a new Cold War, and there is risk of it turning into a real one, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said Thursday.

"Today, we keep hearing all the time about sanctions in relations to Russia both from America and the European Union (EU)," Gorbachev said in an interview with the Interfax news agency, adding that Washington has "totally lost its way in the jungles."

"A Cold War is already explicitly under way," he claimed, criticizing Washington's attempts to "overtly realize its general idea of dominance."

Meanwhile, the former leader did not rule out the possibility of such a Cold War resulting in an actual one. "I fear they (the United States) could take such risks," he added.

Gorbachev said that the situation in both the United States and the EU "is not simple at all," specifying that "some European countries live well, while others not quite well, and their dependence on the United States is excessive."