Russia's President Fearful of Hasty Pullout from Afghanistan - East Idaho News
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Russia’s President Fearful of Hasty Pullout from Afghanistan

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GETTY W 030512 VladimirPutin?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1343896269315Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images(MOSCOW) — Russian President Vladimir Putin turns out to be a hawk when it comes to the international military involvement in Afghanistan.

Putin believes it’s in his country’s best national interest that the Taliban and its allies are ultimately defeated.

Throughout the war, Moscow has cooperated with the U.S. and NATO, which needs to use Russian land and airspace to transport equipment and supplies to its forces in Afghanistan.

As it happens, Putin is not eager to see the coalition pull up stakes and leave in 2014 as is the plan to allow Afghan forces to take over security responsibilities.

Putin says that the U.S. and its allies should complete the job it started almost 11 years ago to ensure that Afghanistan doesn’t become a training ground for terrorists that helped lead to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on America.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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