Putin says U.S. intel KOd plot

RUSSIAN leader Vladimir Putin phoned President Trump on Sunday to thank him for a tip that stopped a potentially catastrophic bombing in St. Petersburg, the Kremlin said.

The call marks the second time the counterparts have spoken since Thursday.

The Russian strongman asked Trump to thank the CIA for the intelligence that revealed a group wanted to plant explosives throughout busy areas of Russia’s second-most-populous city.

Russia’s intelligence service, the FSB, said Friday it arrested seven suspects possibly tied to ISIS.

The alleged terrorists planned to set off a handful of bombs throughout St. Petersburg, a port city on the Baltic Sea that is Putin’s hometown. The suspects were allegedly targeting Kazan Cathedral — a 200-year-old Russian Orthodox Church — among other heavily trafficked locations.

FSB agents also found extremist publications, as well as automatic weapons.

Putin promised FSB investigators would return the favor to the U.S. if Russia finds any ISIS threats against America.

The White House later confirmed Trump spoke with Putin, adding he passed the gratitude on to CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

Trump and Putin (both in photo inset) talked just days earlier, when the commander-in-chief thanked the longtime Kremlin chief for “acknowledging America’s strong economic performance,” the White House previously said.

The two have both expressed hopes for normalizing frigid relations between the two nations. Putin has denied Moscow’s role in election hacks last year, although U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded the Kremlin was involved.

Trump has said he brought up the charges during his two in-person meetings with Putin — one in July and another in early November — and that the Russian leader denied meddling both times.