OREANDA-NEWS. Growing economic problems and inequality are splitting societies, causing a rise in populism, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a speech in Davos at the World Economic Forum, which is being held by videoconference this year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed the hope that a global conflict in the modern world is impossible - it would mean the end of civilization. Putin noted that the weakening of international institutions is taking place in the world, regional conflicts are multiplying, and the global security system is degrading.

The President noted the changes in the global economy, politics, social sphere of all countries, because the new virus has become a challenge for all humanity. Putin noted that the pandemic has exacerbated the previously existing problems in the world, "spurred on, accelerated structural changes, the preconditions for which had already been formed quite a long time ago."

"This pandemic has exacerbated the problems of imbalance that have already accumulated in the world. There is every reason to believe that there are risks of further growth of contradictions and such tendencies can manifest themselves in almost all areas," the Russian head of state warned.