MOSCOW, June 7. /TASS/. A new world war would lead to the end of civilization and the understanding of this must restrain humankind from a global conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his annual Q&A session on Thursday.

"The awareness that a third world war would be the end of today’s civilization should deter us from radical and extremely dangerous global actions threatening modern civilization," the Russian leader stressed.

Putin recalled a statement by renowned US scientist Albert Einstein who said: "I do not know what weapons the third world war will be fought with, but I know that the fourth one will be fought with sticks and stones."

"We are living in the conditions of relative global peace after World War II… Regional wars constantly flare up here and there. It is enough to recall the war in Vietnam, the conflict on the Korean peninsula and now they [conflicts] are constantly occurring in the Middle East - Iraq, Libya and other conflicts. But there have been no global conflicts," the Russian president said.

"Why? This is because a strategic parity was established between the leading military powers. No matter how unpleasant this may sound what I will say but this is true: the fear of mutual destruction has always restrained the participants in the international communication and the leading military powers from sharp movements and forced them to respect each other," the Russian president said.