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Putin thanks Trump for CIA warning that thwarted bomb plot
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A 'robust' meeting: US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7.
(AFP/Saul Loeb)
R
ussian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Donald Trump for the second time in four days, this time to thank the US president for Central Intelligence Agency information that lead to the breakup of a suspected Islamic State cell.
The information helped disrupt a group that had been planning to blow up Kazan Cathedral and other locations around St. Petersburg, according to a Kremlin statement on Sunday. The US tip-off helped to “save many lives,” Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on a conference call Monday. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed the conversation on Twitter and in a statement.
Can confirm @POTUS and President Putin spoke today. Readout from the WH coming shortly. https://t.co/EzRhqM52d8
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) December 17, 2017
Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, said on Friday that it arrested seven suspected followers of the Islamic State who were plotting a suicide bombing and other attacks in Russia’s second-largest city. The attacks were planned for Sunday, according to a court filing, citing testimony from the main suspect.
The revelation of intelligence-sharing came as Putin and Trump face continuing resistance to their efforts to improve ties amid intensifying US investigations into alleged Kremlin meddling in the 2016 elections to help the US president win.
Trump told Putin he appreciated the call and stressed the importance of international cooperation in intelligence matters, the White House said in its readout of the conversation. Putin also thanked the CIA, and Trump called Director Mike Pompeo following his conversation with Putin to congratulate him, the White House said.
“Both leaders agreed that this serves as an example of the positive things that can occur when our countries work together,” the White House said in the readout.
Former US ambassador to Russia, Mike McFaul, said intelligence cooperation is not new and should continue. “What is new is Putin trumpeting this cooperation in public. He is still courting Trump,” he said on Twitter.
US-Russian intel cooperation to thwart terrorism is not new and should continue. What is new is Putin trumpeting this cooperation in public. He is still courting Trump. https://t.co/yvHAf3vnMR
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) December 18, 2017
Russia initiated Sunday’s conversation. The previous call, on Dec. 14, was made by Washington. Trump used it to thank Putin for “acknowledging America’s strong economic performance” during the Russian leader’s annual press conference earlier in the day. They talked about North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, as well as other bilateral issues, according to the Kremlin.
