Moscow - Russian President Vladimir Putin threw his weight behind US air strikes against Afghanistan, saying last month's "monstrous" attacks on the United States served only to unite the world against terrorism.
President Putin said the perpetrators of the September 11th suicide airliner attacks on New York and Washington had made a grave miscalculation and would now suffer the consequences. "Such colossal losses cannot be ignored, and cannot but lead to an appropriate response," he told a meeting of senior ministers in comments broadcast on state-run RTR television.
The US death toll was "twice the number the Russian Federation has lost during all ground operations against terrorists in Chechnya from 1999", Mr Putin said. He said Russia's war in Chechnya was part of the same global battle against international terrorism launched by President Bush.