White House confirms Putin thanked Trump for U.S. stopping terrorism plot

The White House confirmed Monday that President Trump spoke a day earlier with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the two leaders discussed counterterrorism and arms control.

White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said Mr. Putin called Mr. Trump to thank him for information the United States provided “that helped foil a potential holiday terrorist attack in Russia.”

The Kremlin said earlier that the information transmitted by “U.S. special services” helped to thwart the planned terrorist attack. Russian news agencies said two Russian nationals were plotting attacks in St. Petersburg over the New Year’s holiday but were detained, thanks to the information shared by the U.S.