SOCHI. Oct 22 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has highlighted the importance of cooperation between Russia and the United States in countering terrorism, and has promised to provide the U.S. with information that would contribute to the fight against these crimes.
"I think that counterterrorism cooperation between Russia and the United States is not only possible and desirable, it is necessary," Putin said on Thursday, when answering questions at a meeting of the Valdai Discussions Club.
The fight against terrorism is "a common threat that is not becoming less dangerous than 20 years ago, unfortunately, moreover, we even see a certain expansion of this threat and, of course, it's of global nature, and it's possible to effectively combat it only by combining efforts," Putin said.
Putin emphasized that the Russian and U.S. security services are in contact with each other, although, in his words, "in my opinion, it would be possible to work deeper."
"But we are grateful to our American partners for the information that allowed us to prevent terrorist attacks on the territory of the Russian Federation. I assure you that we will do everything that depends on us, and we will timely transfer the necessary information to our American colleagues if it is of interest to them and we have it. I am sure that everyone is interested in this," Putin said.