Putin Thanks Trump for CIA Tip

The Kremlin says the information thwarted attempted bombings in St. Petersburg
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 17, 2017 1:35 PM CST
Putin Thanks Trump for CIA Tip
In this undated video grab provided by the RU-RTR Russian television via APTN in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 15, 2017, Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) operatives detain a suspected member of the Islamic State group's cell in St. Petersburg, Russia. The FSB said Friday the suspects were plotting...   (Russian Federal Security ServiceAP video via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin telephoned Donald Trump Sunday to thank him for a CIA tip that helped thwart a series of bombings in St. Petersburg, the Kremlin said. During the call, the two leaders' second in three days, Putin expressed gratitude for the CIA information, the AP reports. The Kremlin said it allowed Russia's top domestic security agency to track down a group of suspects that planned to bomb Kazan Cathedral and other crowded sites this weekend. "The information received from the CIA proved sufficient to find and detain the criminal suspects," the Kremlin said.

It added that Putin asked Trump to convey gratitude to the CIA and assured him that "if the Russian intelligence agencies receive information about potential terror threats against the United States and its citizens, they will immediately hand it over to their U.S. counterparts via their communications channels." While Russian officials have said the two countries were continuing to exchange a terror-related intelligence, Sunday's statement from the Kremlin was Russia's first public assertion that information from the United States helped prevent an attack. The conversation was the second between the Russian and U.S. presidents since Thursday, when Trump thanked Putin for his remarks "acknowledging America's strong economic performance," according to the White House.

(More Russia stories.)

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