On Sunday, an unexpected phone call was placed by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Donald Trump that marked a win for both foreign relations and the intelligence community.
In the second talk between the two within just three days, Putin called Trump on Sunday to thank him and the CIA for helping to save countless Russian lives targeted by a terror plot aimed at a St. Petersburg cathedral, among other targets.
“The information received from the CIA proved sufficient to find and detain the criminal suspects…just prior to an attack that could have killed large numbers of people,” the Kremlin said.
Trump told Putin that he and the entire U.S. intelligence community “were pleased to have helped save so many lives.” The president also passed along Putin’s message to CIA Director Mike Pompeo, along with congratulations to him and “the entire intelligence community on a job well done.”
Attackers planned to hit several targets
According to reports, representatives of the Islamic State had planned to attack the St. Petersburg Kazan Cathedral on Saturday, when churchgoers would be gathered in large numbers. Russia’s FSB security service said the terror plot included attacks on other densely packed arenas in St. Petersburg, as well.
The FSB busted the plot, in part from the intel from the CIA, and took seven Islamic State radicals into custody while seizing large quantities of weapons and explosives in the process. One suspect said he was told to make bombs loaded with shrapnel.
“My job was to make explosives, put it in bottles and attach pieces of shrapnel,” the suspect, 18-year-old Yevgeny Yefimov, said in a video released by the FSB.
Most of the suspects originated from largely Islamic regions in Russia’s North Caucasus, and one of the suspects was from Tajikistan.
Like many other countries, Russia lives under the constant threat of Islamic terror. In April, a St. Petersburg metro train attack killed 11 people and wounded dozens more.
Additionally, Russian authorities reported that several suspected Islamic State supporters were arrested in Moscow last week in suicide-bombing plots targeted at New Year’s celebrations.
Putin will help U.S. fight terror
In his call, Putin gave assurance to Trump that if Russian intelligence were to gain knowledge of any terror attacks aimed at the U.S., the Russian president would reciprocate the favor:
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.
“The two presidents also discussed working together to resolve the very dangerous situation in North Korea” on the call, according to a White House statement.
U.S.-Russian relations have been tense since the investigation began into the Kremlin’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election, so the call between the two leaders represents a starting point for meaningful dialogue that is a step toward continued cooperation between the two countries on the serious threat of Islamic terrorism.
We’re moving in the right direction.