Russia foils terror attack on Saint Petersburg, Putin thanks Trump

Moscow/Washington: A possible terror attack on the city of Saint Petersburg, against the background of the new year has been foiled. Russia claimed that the intel provided by the US agencies helped foil the potential attack. Reportedly, President Vladimir Putin has personally thanked President Trump over the telephone for providing vital information.

Ahead of the new year, various programs have been organised in the city of Saint Petersburg. A plan was chalked out to carry out a terror attack during these programs. The Russian intelligence agency FSB announced that the intel regarding the attacks was passed on by the US agencies. Two Russian citizens have been arrested based on the US intel and corresponding photographs and videos also have been published.

Russian President Vladimir Putin took cognisance of the cooperation extended by the US agencies in this matter and personally thanked President Trump for it. The Russian statement released after the telephonic talk said that both the countries concurred on maintaining the cooperation to fight terrorism. This is the second time that the United States has provided such intel to Russia. In 2017 too, US agencies had shared information regarding a possible attack with Russia.

As a matter of fact, there are significant differences between the United States and Russia over the political instability in Iran, North Korea, Syria, Libya, Vietnam and many such issues. Russia has expressed severe resentment regarding issues like the increasing US deployments in Europe and the sanctions imposed against Russia. Despite this, the personal relations between President Trump and President Putin and the informal talks that take place between them have been a topic of discussion in the media.