Billionaire George Soros warned of a global depression, and said 'Russia’s invasion of Ukraine' could be looked back on as the starting point of World War III, CNBC reported.

“Russia invaded Ukraine. This has shaken Europe to its core,” he told the audience.

“The European Union was established to prevent such a thing from happening. Even when the fighting stops, as it eventually must, the situation will never revert to the status quo ante. Indeed, the Russian invasion may turn out to be the beginning of World War III, and our civilization may not survive it.”

Soros noted the fight against climate change has had to take second place amid the Ukraine war.

“Yet the experts tell us that we have already fallen far behind, and climate change is on the verge of becoming irreversible. That could be the end of our civilization,” he added.