By Prudence Arobani
New York – Russian President Vladimir phoned U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday to thank him for a tip-off provided by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The information had helped to prevent a terrorist bomb attack on a cathedral in the Russian city of St Petersburg, the Kremlin said.
The Kremlin said in a statement on its website that information provided by CIA allowed Russian law enforcement agencies to arrest the would-be attackers before they could carry out their plan.
The foiled attack was to have been carried out on Kazansky Cathedral, in Russia’s second city of St Petersburg, and on other locations in the city where large numbers of people gather, the Kremlin statement said.
The cathedral is a popular tourist site, according to reports.
Russian media reported last week that the Federal Security Service had detained followers of the Islamic State group who had been planning a suicide bomb attack on Kazansky Cathedral on Dec. 16.
“The Russian President thanked his American colleague for the information passed on by the Central Intelligence Agency, which helped detain a group of terrorists preparing explosions in St Petersburg’s Kazansky Cathedral and other busy sites in the city,” the Kremlin said.
In their phone call, Putin asked Trump to pass on his thanks to the CIA officers who had gathered the intelligence, according to the Kremlin statement.
Putin said Russia would alert U.S. authorities if it received information about any attack being planned on the U.S., the Kremlin said.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed in a tweet on Sunday that the leaders had spoken and said the White House was preparing to release a readout of the call.
Later in a readout of the call released on Sunday afternoon, the White House said Trump “appreciated the call” and “stressed the importance of intelligence cooperation to defeat terrorists wherever they may be.”
“Both leaders agreed that this serves as an example of the positive things that can occur when our countries work together,” the readout said.
