Citing experts who have likened the current global environment to the situation in the 1920’s and 30’s, the Kremlin leader cautioned that the world was heading down a potentially disastrous path.

“In the 20th century, the failure and inability to centrally resolve such issues resulted in the catastrophic World War II,” he said. “Of course, nowadays such a heated conflict is not possible, I hope that it’s not possible in principle, because it would mean the end of our civilization.”