SOCHI, October 24 (RIA Novosti) – The West is shooting itself in own foot by sponsoring extremist movements, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday.
"By the way, I am constantly surprised that our Western partners make the same mistake over and over again. They once sponsored Islamist extremists that had fought in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union. Taliban and al-Qaeda originated from these [extremist] movements," Putin said at the 11th annual Valdai Discussion Club meeting.
