Russia, Germany, France United Against Terrorism?

Top leaders from Russia, Germany and France all reportedly spoke over the phone Tuesday and agreed to better communications and the “exchange of data” to combat global terrorism on the heels of Monday’s metro bombing in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, Reuters reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as his counterparts in Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Francois Hollande, also discussed Ukraine and a ceasefire instituted there for Orthodox Easter, while also agreeing to keep the lines of communication open in regards to Ukraine.

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"Merkel urged Putin to use his influence with the separatists [to keep to the April 1 ceasefire]," a German government source told Reuters.

The discussion took place a day after the deadly bombing attack in St. Petersburg that killed 14 people and wounded another 50. The Russian Investigative Committee announced Tuesday the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber named Akbarjon Djalilov, a 22-year-old Russian national who was born in Kyrgyzstan. The committee also announced the names of 10 of the victims but would need to conduct DNA testing to identify the others.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called the bombing a “terrorist act,” but no group had taken responsibility.

How the three leaders intended to swap intelligence, or how much, had not been made clear in the report. However, given each nation has been the victim of major terrorist attacks in the last two years, further opening lines of communication seemed to be a logical step. It could be surprising to some following the recent actions of Russia's military, like aligning troops and missiles near NATO member nations, the international body that includes France and Germany.

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In November 2015, coordinated bombing attacks struck around Paris and killed 130 people with hundreds more wounded, for which the Islamic State terror group (ISIS) claimed responsibility. In July last year, a truck attack resulted in 84 people run down and killed in Nice. However, France had seen a rise in terror-related in attacks in the several preceding years.

Germany’s capital of Berlin was also victim to a truck attack, which claimed 12 lives and injured 56 other people in December. ISIS also took responsibility for the onslaught.