SOCHI. Oct 22 (Interfax) - U.S. President Joe Biden did the right thing by withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, although he knew he was going to be criticized for the move, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"Sure, the U.S. president did the right thing by withdrawing troops from Afghanistan," Putin said at a plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi on Thursday.
"He must have realized, maybe without knowing details of how it was going to happen, but he realized that one way or another, that this would be one of the lines of attack with regard to domestic politics. But he went for this, he assumed responsibility," he said.
However, referring to how the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan actually went, Putin suggested that "this could have been done in a different way."
"Naturally, this will somehow have its impact on confidence in the U.S., primarily, among those countries orienting toward the States as an ally," Putin said.
"But I think over time, everything will fall into place. This will lead to nothing serious. Yes, today, somewhere in the short term, it will have an impact on relationships with allies, but a country's attractiveness still depends on its economic might rather than things like these," he said.