Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that the demographic issue is a painful subject for many countries, primarily Russia and China.
Speaking at the XII International Primakov Readings expert forum, Peskov said, "We are in a very difficult situation in terms of global demographics. This is an extremely painful problem for our country, Russia. It is also painful for China because the population has started to decline quite rapidly."
Pointing out that the situation is different in India, Peskov said, "The population continues to grow rapidly in India. Therefore, the demographic issue is not painful for them."
The Kremlin spokesman added that, according to current estimates, the world population will start to decline earlier than the middle of the 21st century.