Russia says Putin thanked Trump for helping fight a terrorist plot but offers few details

David Jackson | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Putin laughs after President Trump playfully tells him: 'Don't meddle in the election' Years after Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election prompted investigations, President Trump asked Vladimir Putin not to do it again in 2020.

WASHINGTON – Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin discussed a foiled terrorist plot in Russia and improved U.S.-Russian relations, but neither government put out much detail on their weekend conversation.

The Russians released a three-paragraph statement after the call Sunday saying the presidents talked by phone at "the initiative of the Russian side," and Putin thanked Trump for "information transmitted through the channels of US special services that has helped thwart terrorist acts in Russia."

Russia said, "The two presidents discussed a range of issues of mutual interest and agreed to continue bilateral cooperation in combating terrorism."

In a separate statement on Putin's year-end calls to world leaders, the Kremlin said its president again invited Trump to Russia next year to mark the 75th anniversary of victory in World War II.

More: Trump says he has been denied due process, but the Constitution does not afford him that.

Putin "noted that Russia and the US were historically responsible for ensuring global security and stability," the Kremlin said, "and that Moscow speaks in favor of normalizing bilateral relations and establishing an equal dialogue based on the mutual respect of interests."

The White House put out a brief statement Monday on the phone call, saying Putin thanked Trump for "information the United States provided that helped foil a potential holiday terrorist attack in Russia."

Trump and Putin "committed to continuing counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries," according to the statement from White House spokesman Hogan Gidley. "The Presidents also discussed the state of relations between the United States and Russia and future efforts to support effective arms control.”

Trump is spending the end of the year at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

He has not said whether he plans to visit Russia for what Putin's government called "celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War."

Neither government provided many details about the suspected terrorist plot. Reuters, citing Russian news agencies, reported that "two Russians were detained on Dec. 27 on suspicion of plotting attacks during New Year festivities in St. Petersburg."

Trump's relationship with the Russian president has been a subject of intense interest by lawmakers across the globe.

In the U.S., Democratic lawmakers suspect Putin encouraged Trump to become suspicious of Ukraine, leading to actions that resulted in the president's impeachment this month.

Trump awaits an impeachment trial by the Republican-led Senate on charges that he withheld aid from Ukraine to pressure its government into investigating an American political opponent, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, as well as claims that Ukraine's former government meddled in the 2016 election to try to defeat Trump.

Lawmakers and U.S. intelligence officials said Putin and Russia hacked Democratic emails and pushed fake news designed to hurt Trump's opponent, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

"All roads lead to Putin,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said during the impeachment investigation.

Special counsel Robert Mueller investigated Russian election activity but found no evidence of organized collusion between Russian hackers and Trump's campaign.

After a summit between Trump and Putin in 2018, U.S. lawmakers from both parties criticized Trump for accepting Putin's denials and rejecting the intelligence community's conclusions about Russian election interference.

Trump later said he does believe Russia meddled in the election, but he slammed the special counsel investigation as a "hoax."

Trump has used the same word to describe impeachment and slammed Pelosi and Democrats nearly every day.

In a tweet that attacked Pelosi's home base of San Francisco, Trump said, "Crazy Nancy Pelosi should spend more time in her decaying city and less time on the Impeachment Hoax!"

Putin defended Trump on impeachment this month, saying it is "just the continuation of the domestic political strife" in the USA.