(CNN) President Donald Trump on Sunday denied receiving a briefing about intelligence that Russians had tried to bribe Taliban fighters to kill US troops, as The New York Times first reported and CNN has confirmed. Trump tweeted that "there have not been many attacks" on US troops by Taliban fighters as his evidence that the reported intelligence may be "phony." CNN previously reported that Russian intelligence officers for the military intelligence GRU recently offered money to Taliban militants in Afghanistan as rewards if they killed US or UK troops there, according to a European intelligence official. US intelligence concluded months ago that Russian military intelligence offered the bounties, amid peace talks, and Trump was briefed on the intelligence findings and the White House's National Security Council held a meeting about it in late March, according to the Times, citing officials briefed on the matter. There were some efforts at protecting US forces because of the intelligence, the source also said.

Source: CNN June 28, 2020 12:26 UTC