Russia's President Vladimir Putin holds the first major press conference of his third term in power in Moscow. Photo by BGNES
Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that the Mayans, who predicted that the world will end this week, have got their calculations wrong.
In his first major news conference since his return to the Kremlin Putin surpsingly took on the role of chief prophecy maker and said with his usual confidence that the Earth is safe for another 4.5 billion years.
Putin was asked why he had chosen to speak to journalists one day before the end of the world, as predicted in a Mayan prophecy which has caused hysteria around the world.
"I know when the end of the world will come," Putin said, pausing dramatically. "In approximately 4.5 billion years."
"If I remember rightly, the functioning cycle of the sun is 7 or 14 billion – we are now in the middle," he continued. The reactor will just turn off, and then the end of the world will come. But until then, there will be other things going on with the sun. It will turn into a white dwarf."
Asked if he was afraid, Putin said no: "What is there to be afraid of? It is unavoidable."