BREAKING : Russia nabs terrorism suspects, eyes anti-terrorism deal with U.S

Russian authorities have detained seven persons suspected of planning terrorist attacks on the railway transport system, just as the country hopes to partner U.S on anti-terrorism.

The Federal Security Service, said on Friday, that the suspects planned to bomb crowded places in the Russian city of St Petersburg,

“All seven persons are from Central Asia,’’ FSS said, adding that their identities had not been made public since the case is still undergoing investigation.

Central Asia is a predominantly Muslim region consisting of several former Soviet republics.

St Petersburg and Moscow, Russia’s two largest cities have sizeable populations of migrant workers from that region, who come to the cities to seek economic opportunities.

Russian authorities have detained numerous terrorism suspects from Central Asia since April bombing in one of the metro stations in St Petersburg that killed over a dozen people.

The suspected suicide bomber was 22-year-old Akbarzhon Jalilov, a Russian citizen born in the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan.

Authorities believed Jalilov was radicalised by Islamic extremists.

Meanwhile, the country still hopes for common sense in the Russian-U.S. relations and especially for the joint anti-terrorist efforts, lawmaker Leonid Slutsky said.

Slutsky, Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Chairman told the Rossiya 24 broadcaster that Russia hopes for anti-Terror work, in spite of the U.S. intention to introduce new sanctions.

“We are still hoping for the common sense, particularly, on countering the international terrorism with the United States but obviously we have different goals in Syria.

“In spite of that, we will struggle for the common sense where it is possible. And we will hope that these irrational, inadequate, unfounded anti-Russian steps of Washington will stop,” Slutsky said.

He welcomed the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement on possible retaliatory measures against the United States.

“The decision is absolutely adequate. We give no opportunity to our strategic friends to accuse us of some excessive measures.

“We responded proportionally and absolutely appropriately,” Slutsky said.

The lawmaker pointed out that Russia had been calling for the common sense for a long time but the United States “did not hear the calls.”

Earlier in the day, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it reserved the reciprocal right to hit US interests, including suspending the use of all U.S. Embassy warehouses and its compound in Moscow, as a response to the new possible US sanctions against Russia.

The ministry also called for the U.S. to cut down the number of its diplomatic staff in Russia to 455 people.

The U.S. Senate approved a bill in a 98 to two vote Thursday to impose sweeping sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea and limit U.S. President Donald Trump’s ability to lift the restrictions on Moscow.

The bill passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday by a vote of 419 to three.(dpa/Sputnik/