PUTIN-TRUMP CALL: LEADERS HAIL US-RUSSIAN EFFORTS TO FOIL ISIS BOMB PLOT
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| Donald Trump chats with Vladimir Putin in Danang, Vietnam in November. Photograph: Mikhail Klimentyev/AFP/Getty Images |
- White House says Trump ‘appreciated’ conversation with Russian president
- Sunday phone call followed separate call about the economy on Thursday
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin spoke for the second time in four days on
Sunday, the White House said, and agreed that a CIA tip which helped Russia
prevent bombings in St Petersburg was “an example of the positive things that
can occur when our countries work together”.
The two leaders’ first call this week was on Thursday, when Trump thanked
Putin for his remarks “acknowledging America’s strong economic performance”,
according to the White House. The two presidents also discussed ways to address
North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic weapons program.
Trump remains under severe domestic pressure as special counsel Robert
Mueller continues his investigation into alleged collusion between Trump aides
and Russian officials. US intelligence agencies have said Russia interfered with
the 2016 election in order to help Trump win.
The Kremlin said on Sunday Putin told Trump the information provided by
the CIA was sufficient to track down and detain a group of Islamic State-linked
suspects who were planning to bomb the Kazan Cathedral and other sites in the
city.
Putin asked Trump to convey his gratitude to the CIA and said Russian law
enforcement agencies would hand over any information they get about potential
terror threats against the US, as they have done in the past.
The White House said Trump “appreciated” the conversation and “stressed
the importance of intelligence cooperation to defeat terrorists wherever they
may be”.
The Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB, announced on Friday that
seven suspected followers of Isis had been arrested for allegedly planning to
carry out terror attacks in St Petersburg this weekend.
The agency said the suspects were plotting a suicide bombing in a church
and other explosions in the city’s busiest areas, on Isis orders. It said a
search of a St Petersburg apartment found explosives, automatic weapons and
extremist literature.
Russian TV stations ran footage of FSB operatives outside an apartment
building detaining a suspect, who was later shown confessing that he was told
to prepare homemade bombs rigged with shrapnel.
The reports included footage of a metal container, which the suspects
used as a laboratory for making explosives, according to the FSB. Another video
showed operatives breaking the doors and raiding an apartment used by other
suspects.
Last week, the FSB said it also arrested several Isis-linked suspects in
Moscow, where they allegedly were plotting a series of suicide bombings over
New Year. In April, a suicide bombing in the St Petersburg subway killed 16 and
wounded more than 50.
Concluding its readout of Sunday’s call, the White House said Trump also
called CIA director Mike Pompeo “to congratulate him, his very talented people,
and the entire intelligence community on a job well done!”
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