NEW YORK, July 17. /TASS/. Russia and the United States agree that the terrorist threat must be neutralized and that the two states should cooperate on the issue, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a Fox News interview on Monday.
When asked how Russian-US relations changed after the summit in Helsinki, Putin replied: "Primarily, I think, we should be grateful to our staff and our aides, who spent several last months working with one another, and not just in the preparations of this summit."
"I’m referring to the effort of our agencies across the board, who worked in sensitive areas both for Russia and the United States. Primarily I refer to counterterrorism efforts. Today, talking with President Trump, we agreed that terrorism is a greater threat than it seems at first," the Russian leader said.
"Because, God forbid, if something happens, if terrorists … get in their hands the weapons of mass destruction, it may have the devastating ramifications," he continued. "Our military, our special agencies do establish cooperation in this particularly important area."
Putin cited cooperation in Syria as an example of practical cooperation.
"Although there is some understanding missing to some extent, especially in the terms of broader picture, but this cooperation is going on between our militaries, our special services," he said.
Monday’s meeting in Helsinki was the first full-format Putin-Trump talks. Before that, they met twice - in July and November 2017 - on the sidelines of major international forums.