US President Donald Trump shared classified info with Russia for 'humanitarian reasons'

US President Donald Trump looks on during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 16, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

US President Donald Trump has defended sharing sensitive information with Russia, saying he did so for "humanitarian reasons."  

Trump said on Tuesday that he shared the so-called classified information with Russian officials to help their country in its "fight against ISIS [Daesh] and terrorism."

"As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety," he tweeted on Tuesday morning.

“I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism,” he added.

His Twitter messages came one day after news broke that the US president revealed highly classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and ambassador Sergey Kislyak during a meeting at the White House last week.

A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry on May 10, 2017 shows US President Donald J. Trump (R) speaking with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting at the White House in Washington, DC. (Photo via AFP) 

Moscow, however, has rejected the Washington Post report that Trump shared such information with the Russian officials.

“It is complete nonsense, not a subject to be denied or confirmed," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

Trump has maintained that the United States should help Russia in its fight against Daesh terrorists in Syria, where Moscow has been carrying out airstrikes against the militants since September 2015.

But most of the US officials are against providing any help to Russia or the Syrian government which are on the verge of getting the country rid of the foreign-sponsored militants who have been carrying out acts of terrorism since 2011.