Moscow, March 26 Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that no one, including those involved in the Gulf conflict, can foresee its grave consequences for the world, which are comparable only to the Covid pandemic.
Addressing the delegates of the congress of the powerful Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), the Russian leader said that the escalation of the conflict, triggered by the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran, has jeopardized a wide range of industries, and there is no telling what further consequences may follow.
"The armed conflict in the Middle East is increasingly impacting the current situation and causing significant disruption to international logistics, manufacturing, and supply chains," he said.
Starting February 28, the US and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran, which in turn retaliated, spreading the war to the entire Gulf region. The Strait of Hormuz is a strategically important choke point for the world's energy supplies.
The strait, a narrow shipping lane that connects the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean, remains effectively closed, bringing to a near halt the transit of hundreds of vessels per day, including container, dry bulk, and liquid cargo ships.
According to Putin, entire sectors, specifically those tied to the extraction and processing of hydrocarbons, metals, the production of fertilizers, and many other goods and product categories, have been affected.
"It is still difficult to predict the consequences of the conflict in the Middle East with any certainty. It seems that even those involved in the conflict are themselves unable to foresee them," Putin said, adding that they are being compared to the Covid-19 pandemic, which globally impacted life and slowed down growth.
"Let me remind you, the pandemic sharply slowed down the development of all regions and continents without exception," Putin underscored.
He said that Russia will have to live in the current reality, and for this, it has to be strong and united.
In a related development, Russia’s main public broadcaster Chanel-1 TV, on Thursday, in its prime time talk show, said: "We are in the middle of the third world war, and we will learn this only after it ends, like in the past.
"There have been 30 years, 100-year wars, Napoleonic wars in Europe; we learnt about them only when they ended. The Second World War in Europe started in 1939, but we learnt it only in May 1945," a TV anchor said.
