SOLNECHNOGORSK /Moscow Region/, September 1. /TASS/. The hub of global political and economic life will gradually shift to Asian countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"In fact, we have long been paying special attention to the development of relations with Asian countries, not just with regard to the current situation. This is only natural because given the pace of development in Asia and Asian countries, the center of economic and political activities will gradually shift to this region. This is a completely objective and inevitable process," Putin noted at an open lecture titled "Conversations About Important Things."

"Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently published an article where he talks about future global development. I agree with much of what he said. He points out that Africa’s population will grow to 2.5 billion by 2030, while there will be only 430 million to 450 million people in Europe. And what about Asia? China has a population of 1.5 billion, India also has 1.5 billion people, and Indonesia’s population already stands at 300 million, which means that these are objective processes. They aren’t related to the current global political situation, even though it has an impact on today's realities. However, these are objective processes," Putin explained.