SOCHI, November 7. /TASS/. The gap in the level of development between the "golden billion" and the rest of the world could lead to increased migration problems, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club.

"Within countries, inequality gives rise to social tensions and political instability. On the global arena, the gap in the level of development between the "golden billion" and the rest of humanity is fraught not only with an increase in political contradictions, but above all with a deepening of the migration problem," the President said.

According to him, almost all developed countries are now facing "an increasingly less controlled flow of those who hope to improve their financial situation, raise their social status, gain prospects, and sometimes simply survive in this way." However, such "migration forces" lead to an increase in xenophobia and intolerance towards newcomers in richer societies, which, in turn, triggers a spiral of socio-political ill-being and increases the level of aggression, Putin stated.