MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. A unipolar world does not exist anymore, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated during his annual news conference on Thursday, adding that global economic development has led to the appearance of a multipolar world order.

"It [the multipolar world] has been established, a unipolar world does not exist anymore," he said. "After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was an illusion that this world is possible and could exist for a long time," Putin added. "However, it was just an illusion. I have always said that, and recent events serve as a testament to this."

"A multipolar world is a result of economic relations," the Russian leader stressed.

"After the Second World War, the American share in world GDP constituted 50%, and now, China’s share is bigger than the US one. China is ahead of the US in its share in the global GDP and in other areas, for example, in parity of purchasing power," the Russian leader stated. He added that such figures "inevitably lead to changes in many other areas."

"A world cannot have a unipolar structure with just one center that controls the entire global community," Putin stressed. "In this sense, our cooperation with China is very important. We will strengthen our multilateral strategic ties, and I am confident that this will benefit both the Chinese and Russian people," the Russian president said.