Putin hopes the Middle East conflict will end within weeks, warning that the consequences of the clash could be as severe as COVID-19

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Thursday, the 26th, that the Middle East conflict is causing “serious damage” to global production and supply chains, with consequences that could be as severe as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on Thursday, Putin said the outcomes of the Middle East conflict are difficult to predict accurately. “I believe that even the parties involved in the conflict cannot predict anything, and for us, the difficulty is even greater,” he stated.

Putin said, “The armed conflict in the Middle East is increasingly affecting the current situation and causing serious damage to international logistics, production, and supply chains. Entire industries—including those involved in the extraction and processing of hydrocarbons, metals, fertilizers, and many other commodities—are suffering.”

He pointed out that some assessments compare the consequences of this conflict to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused global economic chaos for several years. “I want to remind everyone that the pandemic severely slowed down development in every region and continent without exception.”

According to reports from Xinhua, citing Russian media, Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, revealed that during a meeting with business leaders, President Putin expressed hope that the conflict in the Middle East would end within the next few weeks.

The report states that Putin explicitly mentioned that the conflict has brought excess profits to Russia as a major energy exporter, but this situation will not last long. The Russian Ministry of Finance and related companies should not expect long-term “windfalls.”

Xinhua also noted that, according to other Russian media reports, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the Russian government hopes the fighting in the Middle East will cease as soon as possible.

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