RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has called his US counterpart Donald Trump to thank him for a CIA tip-off that helped thwart a series of bombings in St Petersburg.

The Kremlin said Putin told Trump during the call yesterday that the information provided by the CIA was sufficient to track down and detain a group of suspects that was planning to bomb Kazan Cathedral and other sites in the city.

A spokesman said the Russian leader asked Trump to convey his gratitude to the CIA and said Russian law enforcement agencies will hand over any information they get about potential terror threats against the US, as they have done in the past.

The conversation is the second phone call between the two leaders since Thursday.

In the first call, Trump thanked Putin for his remarks “acknowledging America’s strong economic performance”, according to the White House.

The Federal Security Service announced on Friday that seven suspected followers of the Daesh group had been arrested for allegedly planning to carry out terror attacks in St Petersburg.

The agency said a search of a St Petersburg apartment found explosives, automatic weapons and extremist literature