American billionaire financier George Soros has said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may be the beginning of World War III and Western civilization may not survive it.

He said this at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Reuters and BNN Bloomberg report.

“The best and perhaps the only way to save our civilization is to defeat Putin as soon as possible,” Soros said.

He is sure that all other problems that concern all of humanity – the fight against the pandemic and climate change, the avoidance of nuclear war, the support of global institutions – should fade into the background in this struggle.

According to Soros, Putin, who says the “special operation” in Ukraine is going according to plan, now considers the invasion a mistake and is preparing to negotiate.

“But a truce is unattainable because it cannot be trusted. The weaker Putin is, the more unpredictable he becomes,” the billionaire said.

Soros said the EU needs to understand that Putin can turn off Russian natural gas, which accounts for about 40% of Europe’s needs, “as long as it really hurts.”

“I can’t predict the outcome, but Ukraine certainly has a chance to fight,” Soros said.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense reported that Russia was preparing for a long-term war in Ukraine .

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