President Trump on Tuesday said Russian President Vladimir Putin called to thank him for helping Russia stop a terrorist attack.
“President Putin of Russia called to thank me and the U.S. for informing them of a planned terrorist attack in the very beautiful city of Saint Petersburg. They were able to quickly apprehend the suspects, with many lives being saved. Great & important coordination!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
President Putin of Russia called to thank me and the U.S. for informing them of a planned terrorist attack in the very beautiful city of Saint Petersburg. They were able to quickly apprehend the suspects, with many lives being saved. Great & important coordination!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2019
Putin called Trump late Sunday and thanked him for information that helped foil the terrorist attack. The Kremlin released a readout on the conversation between the leaders, saying Trump and Putin “discussed a range of issues of mutual interest.” On Monday, Deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley issued a statement on Monday, saying, “President Vladimir Putin of Russia called President Donald J. Trump to thank him for information the United States provided that helped foil a potential holiday terrorist attack in Russia.”
Tass, Russia’s state news agency, released this statement about the planned attack:
Two Russian nationals plotting terror attacks in Russia’s second largest city St. Petersburg during the New Year holidays have been detained by officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) thanks to the information shared by the United States, a FSB spokesman told TASS on Sunday.
“On the basis of information provided earlier by the American partners, Russia’s Federal Security Service on December 27 detained two Russian nationals who had planned to commit terror attacks in places of mass gathering in St. Petersburg during the New Year holidays,” he said.
According to the spokesman, materials evidencing preparation of terror attacks were seized from the men. A criminal case was opened on charges of preparing a terror attack (part 30, article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code) and participating in a terrorist organization (article 205.1 of the Russian Criminal Code).
“Russian news agency Interfax reported that the Federal Security Service distributed a video showing one of the detained men allegedly swearing an oath to the Islamic State,” the Washington Post wrote.
https://twitter.com/sovfed_no/status/1211564423598481408
