The U.S. plans to share its technologies for countering improvised explosive devices with Russia, responding to an interest by Russia's top military commander in the electronic equipment for the Sochi Olympics, the U.S. Defense Department said.
Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama spoke by phone on Tuesday and the White House said in a statement that is has offered its assistance to ensure a safe Olympics, Reuters reported.
Russia's military Chief of Staff General Valery Gerasimov met with his U.S. counterpart General Martin Dempsey in Brussels on Tuesday, and expressed an interest in the anti-bomb technology — which the Pentagon had developed to counter explosives in Afghanistan and Iraq — to prevent terrorist attacks in Sochi, the Defense Department said in an online statement.
"The United States would share technical information on the counter-IED (improvised explosive device) efforts … and if it is compatible with Russian equipment, will look to provide that information to Russia in time for the game," the statement said.
The equipment is meant to detect and disrupt cell-phone and radio signals that bombers use to set off improvised explosives from a distance, Dempsey said, The New York Times reported.
Improvised explosives planted by militants have been the leading cause of death of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Dempsey said that the technology to counter homemade bombs was "something that we've become extraordinarily familiar with."
During their phone conversation, Putin and Obama talked about how best to advance shared U.S.-Russian interests, including Sochi security, the White House said in a statement.
The U.S. "has offered its full assistance" to help ensure a "safe and secure Olympics," the statement said.
U.S. counter-terrorism experts are also cooperating with Russian security services to hunt for at least four female terrorist suspects in Sochi, including a woman who is believed to have already penetrated the so-called security zone set up around the Games.
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