普京感謝美方提供恐襲情報

Russian president Vladimir Putin thanked his US counterpart Donald Trump on Sunday for a tip-off provided by the CIA alerting him to a terrorist plot to attack St Petersburg, according to Moscow officials.

據莫斯科官員表示，俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾?普京(Vladimir Putin)週日對美國總統唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump)表示了感謝，因爲美國中央情報局(CIA)提供了恐怖分子密謀襲擊聖彼得堡的情報。

The Kremlin said in a statement following a call between the leaders on Sunday that the CIA had passed on information that helped detain terrorists who planned to set off explosions at St Petersburg’s Kazan cathedral and other public places in the city.

在兩位領導人週日通話之後，克里姆林宮在一份聲明中表示，中情局提供的情報幫助抓獲了策劃在聖彼得堡喀山大教堂以及該市其他公共場所引爆炸彈的恐怖分子。

“The information received from the CIA was enough to locate and detain the criminals,” it said.

聲明稱：“來自中情局的情報足以定位和抓捕這些犯罪分子。”

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed two leaders spoke and said more information would be released shortly.

白宮發言人薩拉?桑德斯(Sarah Sanders)證實兩位領導人進行了通話，並表示很快就會發布更多信息。

The public avowal of co-operation between intelligence agencies marks an unusual attempt to undercut what Mr Putin referred to last week as “this spy hysteria”, a reference to whether Moscow intelligence networks deliberately sought to subvert US rule of law and democracy in the 2016 presidential elections.

公開承認兩國情報機構之間合作，標誌着兩國不同尋常地試圖淡化普京上週所說的“這場間諜歇斯底里”，當時普京說的是俄羅斯情報網絡被指在2016年美國總統大選期間蓄意企圖顛覆美國法治和民主制度。

In the telephone call, the second between the two men in the space of four days, Mr Putin also promised to pass on information acquired by Russian intelligence services “that concerns terrorist threats to the US and its citizens,” the Kremlin press service said.

克里姆林宮新聞辦公室表示，在這次通話期間（這是兩人四天來第二次通話），普京還承諾俄羅斯情報機構將向美國同行提供“涉及針對美國及其公民的恐襲情報”。

Senior US officials have described relations between the US and Russia as at a historic low since the Cold War, mired in allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US elections that saw Mr Trump secure the presidency, as well as marked tensions over Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan and North Korea.

美國高級官員認爲，美國與俄羅斯之間的關係處於自冷戰以來的歷史最低水平，受到俄羅斯干預2016美國大選指控——特朗普在這次選舉中當選爲美國總統——以及圍繞敘利亞、烏克蘭、阿富汗和朝鮮的明顯緊張的影響。

Both countries have ejected each other’s diplomats this year in a series of escalatory diplomatic stand-offs, as Russia has sought to cope with the fallout of additional sanctions lobbed at it both by the outgoing Obama administration and Congress since its invasion of Ukraine.

兩國今年在一系列不斷升級的外交對峙中相互驅逐對方的外交官。同時俄羅斯設法應對奧巴馬(Obama)政府在任期最後階段以及美國國會自俄入侵烏克蘭以來施加的額外製裁的衝擊波。

Mr Trump himself has rarely criticised Russia, however, instead describing the high-profile probe into Russian political interference led by former FBI chief Robert Mueller as a “witch hunt” and expressing repeated hopes for improved relations.

然而，特朗普本人很少批評俄羅斯，而是將聯邦調查局(FBI)前局長羅伯特?米勒(Robert Mueller)領導的高調的通俄案調查稱爲“政治迫害”，並且多次表示希望改善兩國關係。