The United States and Russia are superpowers, and when one president thanks to the other, it becomes news. Recently, Vladimir Putin rang up Donald Trump to convey his thanks for Trump’s efforts to prevent acts of terrorism in Russia. It seems it was a result of some intelligence inputs from the American side. Both countries follow different ideologies and have different priorities that, at times, lead to tense situations. However, when it comes to terrorism, they are together because those who carry out such acts are threats to society and must be removed from circulation.

BBC quotes Kremlin on the subject. It said – “Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump spoke on the phone on Sunday.” The Kremlin also confirmed media reports that said the necessary information pertained to a possible terrorist attack on a prominent place like St Petersburg during the New Year. The news agency added that the authorities arrested two Russian nationals in this connection. They apparently planned to attack a gathering of people. A spokesperson from the intelligence agency confirms this.

Putin and Trump are good friends

The two presidents are good friends. They might have different philosophies and divergent views on many subjects, but Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump maintain a one-to-one approach.

They have interacted over the phone on several occasions ever since the latter took over the White House. Some of the discussions were on matters of international importance like Syria and North Korea apart from nuclear agreements and trade.

The BBC says the latest incident of an alert on terrorism from the Americans was not the first.

There was a similar caution in December 2017. It was about a terrorist plot in St Petersburg, as revealed by the White House. Kremlin further clarified that President Vladimir Putin indicated he would also relay information about such threats to the United States on a reciprocal basis.

Relations between the two countries had touched rock bottom following the annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Later, in 2016, there were reports of Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential election. In spite of these issues, the relation between the two leaders was good, and both had a common goal to fight terrorism. They have already dealt with the threat of the Islamic State group. In 2015, the group had downed a Russian passenger plane in Egypt, killing 224 people.

Obviously, world leaders agree that terrorism needs to be rooted out, and all the countries must treat it as a common enemy.

The U.S. and Russia join forces to combat terrorism

According to Sky News, Russia has appreciated the efforts of the US for providing intelligence on a major issue like terrorism. The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had thanked President Donald Trump for the alert that helped prevent terror attacks in St Petersburg.

Two Russians were involved, and their targets were locations in the city during New Year celebrations. Even though diplomatic ties between Washington and Moscow have suffered because of a number of issues, the two presidents have kept their personal phone lines open. Two years back, another timely alert from America foiled a bomb attack on a cathedral in St Petersburg.
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