Putin Thanks Trump – CIA Intel Foils ISIS Attack in St. Petersburg

Russia and the U.S. have always had somewhat of a tumultuous relationship and it’s safe to say that Mueller’s investigation has escalated the tension between the U.S. government and Russia as of late.

President Donald Trump has made recent efforts to rebuild this relationship.  

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Trump to thank him for the intel that was provided to Russia from the U.S. about a planned terror attack in St. Petersburg.

“Based on the information the United States provided, Russian authorities were able to capture the terrorists just prior to an attack that could have killed large numbers of people. No Russian lives were lost and the terrorist attackers were caught and are now incarcerated,” according to a White House Readout. “President Trump appreciated the call and told President Putin that he and the entire United States intelligence community were pleased to have helped save so many lives. President Trump stressed the importance of intelligence cooperation to defeat terrorists wherever they may be.”

Putin also thanked the Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo and his team for the information.  

“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,” said the Kremlin news agency, as reported by Reuters.

Russia’s Federal Security service said that seven people with connections to ISIS were arrested for planning a series of attacks in the busiest areas of the city. Authorities seized explosives and other weapons while searching the arrested individual’s apartments, where homemade bombs were being built.  

Apparently, the suspects were using the app Telegram to communicate with ISIS leaders.  

St. Petersburg officials and citizens have been on high alert ever since 16 people were killed and 100 people injured in a suicide bombing that took place in the city in April. Russian fined the Telegram app for not releasing the conversations of two of the suspects involved in April’s bombing.

Putin also said 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.”

Trump and Putin spoke earlier in the week after Putin applauded Trump’s progress in improving the U.S. economy while giving a speech on a televised news conference.

“President Trump thanked President Putin for acknowledging America’s strong economic performance in his annual press conference,” said the White House in a statement.  

It appears that Trump took this opportunity to also address the issue with North Korea with Putin.  

“The two presidents also discussed working together to resolve the very dangerous situation in North Korea,” said the White House in a statement.

Author’s note: Trump is trying to maintain cordial relations with Putin, while also trying to get Russia on board with getting North Korea under control. Putin obviously can see that Trump has nothing to do with the ridiculous Russia collusion narrative.

Editor’s note: These are two leaders who know how to get beyond the BS when lives are on the line.