Egypt crash - Putin and MI5 in talks - Curt Lewis

Vladimir Putin says Britain shared intelligence over Sinai plane crash and hails diplomatic 'revival' Russian President admits relations have been strained but calls for closer working as he meets David Cameron at G20 after Paris attacks Christopher Hope By Christopher Hope, Chief Political Correspondent10:23AM GMT 16 Nov 2015 Vladimir Putin has hailed a "revival" in relations between Britain and Russia as he said that David Cameron shared intelligence about the Sinai plane crash. In bilateral talks on the margins of the G20 after the Paris attacks, the Russian President told Mr Cameron that he recognised that the countries' relations had been strained. But he said: "The recent tragic events in France show that we should join efforts in preventing terror. Unfortunately our bilateral relations are not of the best. "But there is certain revival as regards the inter-governmental commission. We created a working mechanism at different levels. "Russia has analysed the positive groundwork that you have done in the past and to look into the future as to the way we should develop our relations." He told Mr Cameron, the British Prime Minister, that Russia had "the opportunity to discuss urgent international problems". Mr Putin also thanked Mr Cameron for an offer to share intelligence data. "I want to thank you for the talk that we had when you expressed your ideas about the root causes and shared the intelligence data," he said. It comes after Russia followed Britain in halting flights to Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this month after UK ministers said they feared the Sinai plane crash had been caused by an "explosive device". There was speculation that Russia's about-turn came after Britain shared intelligence about the apparent bombing - a suggestion now confirmed for the first time by Mr Putin. Egyptian investigators check debris from the Russian jet that crashed in the Sinai Desert. EPA At the bilateral meeting, Mr Cameron said: "We are meeting together after the appalling terrorist attacks in France, and it is clear to me that we must work together to defeat this scourge of terrorism that is a threat to Britain, a threat to Russia and a threat to us all. "I'm sure we can discuss that and the situation in Syria this morning. And as you say there's an opportunity to talk about our bilateral relationship as well."

Probe into Russian airliner crash over Sinai almost finished - Putin The official investigation into the crash of a Russian airliner over Sinai in Egypt is in its final stage, the Russian president said. Vladimir Putin was speaking at a joint conference with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who expressed his condolences over the loss of life in the incident. Renzi said countries should stand united in fighting terrorism. Kolavia flight 7K9268 went down on October 31 minutes after taking off the Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport, killing 224 people on board, most of them Russians. Many foreign commenters and officials said they believed that a bomb planted by terrorists was responsible for the tragedy. This version is among those being investigated by Egyptian and Russian authorities, but officials said no final verdict had been reached yet. Despite this Russia closed all civilian flights to Egypt and evacuated tens of thousands of Russian citizens from the country. The terrorist group Islamic State claimed its Sinai branch downed the Russian plane in retaliation to the Russian bombing campaign against IS in Syria.