Russian President Vladimir Putin warned world leaders of an international “all against all” fight if global powers did not work to resolve disagreements that were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking before the Davos Agenda summit, Putin referenced experts who warned the world is as divided as it was during the 1920s and 1930s, just before World War II, and that tensions could skyrocket if the world does not come together.
“The coronavirus pandemic has become a major challenge to mankind, and it has accelerated structural changes, the preconditions for which were already in place,” he said at a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum. “We have every reason to believe that the tensions might be aggravated even further.”
Putin specifically cited the rise in populism on the right and the left and the growth of radical movements that have riled up domestic politics but he said would inevitably seep into international relations.
“All of this cannot but impact international relations, making them less stable and predictable,” he said.
“I would like to reiterate, that the situation might develop unpredictably and uncontrollably if we will sit on our hands doing nothing to avoid it,” he warned. “And there is a possibility that we may experience an actual collapse of global development that might result in a fight of all against all.”
The remarks come as movements on both the left and the right have rearranged the priorities for lawmakers in the U.S. and across the world.
Russia finds itself currently grappling with an opposition movement that has been galvanized by Moscow’s arrest of its leader, Alexei Navalny, after he returned to Russia from Germany, where he was recovering from being poisoned in an attack broadly believed to have been directed by the Kremlin.
Putin is also heading into an uncertain relationship with newly inaugurated U.S. President Biden, who is looking to work with Moscow to extend a key nuclear arms pact but has also said he would pressure the Kremlin on a range of issues, including election meddling, Navalny’s arrest, the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine and reports that Russia placed bounties on U.S. troops in Afghanistan.