Russia will help international efforts to stabilise Afghanistan but believes that the country cannot be ruled by outside forces, Reuters quoted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as telling the BBC in an interview aired today. Medvedev also said he expected to discuss missile defence and Iran's nuclear programme when he meets U.S. President Barack Obama in London next week. "I believe that today a number of threats are still there and in that sense we are ready to participate in the efforts directed at putting things in order, at preventing terrorist attacks," Medvedev said in an excerpt from an interview recorded yesterday. "On the other hand, I too believe that sooner or later there must be a normal political system in place in Afghanistan," he added, speaking through an interpreter. "It is impossible to rule Afghanistan with the aid of the (NATO) alliance, it is impossible to rule Afghanistan from abroad, Afghanistan should find its own path to democracy."
