Putin phoned Trump to thank him for CIA intel that foiled a planned terrorist attack in Russia, the Kremlin says

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday phoned President Trump to thank him for a tip from the CIA that thwarted a terrorist attack being planned in St. Petersburg, the Kremlin said.

The call was confirmed by White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders in a tweet.

Putin told Trump that the information provided by the CIA allowed Russian law enforcement agencies to track down and detain a group of suspects that was planning to bomb the centrally located Kazan Cathedral and other crowded parts of Russia’s second-largest city. 

Putin asked Trump to pass along his gratitude to the CIA and the American intelligence agents who received the intelligence, the Kremlin said. It said that Putin also told Trump that “if Russian special services obtain any information on terrorist threats against the United States and its citizens, they will definitely and immediately pass it to American counterparts through partner channels.”

It was the two presidents’ second conversation since Thursday, when they spoke following Putin’s annual four-hour televised press conference, during which Putin mentioned that booming U.S. stock market as an example of Trump’s successes. The White House said Trump thanked Putin for remarks he made “acknowledging America’s strong economic performance.”

Putin said that he doubted Trump would be able to improve relations between their two countries because the U.S. president was being held back by his political opposition, and allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election were being invented to raise doubts about Trump’s legitimacy.

Russian media reported last week that the Federal Security Service had detained men identified as followers of the Islamic State group who had been planning a suicide bomb attack on Kazansky Cathedral on Sunday.  Three more people were arrested on Sunday in connection with the alleged planned attack, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

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