PUTIN-TRUMP CALL: LEADERS HAIL US-RUSSIAN EFFORTS TO FOIL ISIS BOMB PLOT

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!”