Putin hopes intl. efforts in Afghanistan are successful
06:51 02/12/2010 MOSCOW, December 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said during an interview with U.S. talk show host Larry King that he hopes the international coalition's efforts are positive for Afghanistan.
King asked Putin if he thinks the United States will succeed in Afghanistan. The Soviet Union deployed troops to the south-central Asian country in 1979 but had to withdraw them in 1989 without a visible improvement.
"Just as our presence in Afghanistan [back then] cannot be compared to [American presence in] Vietnam, the American and international presence in Afghanistan today cannot be compared to Russia's presence there back in the 1980s," Putin said.
"I believe the international coalition in Afghanistan is fulfilling an important and positive mission today," the premier said during the satellite interview aired on CNN.
"We render assistance to American partners and other partners from the international coalition in Afghanistan by various methods and means," he said. "We hope these efforts will yield a positive result."
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