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Putin meets Security Council members to focus on Syria, Ukraine developments

The president has held an urgent meeting in the Kremlin with permanent members of the Russian Security Council

Russian President Vladimir Putin ITAR-TASS/Mikhail Metzel

Russian President Vladimir Putin

© ITAR-TASS/Mikhail Metzel

MOSCOW, January 31. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has held an urgent meeting in the Kremlin with permanent members of the Russian Security Council, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

“The participants in the meeting discussed socioeconomic developments of the country,” Peskov said. “Moreover, they considered the most topical aspects of the international agenda with the focus on the Syrian conflict settlement,” the press secretary added.

“The program of the meeting also included recent developments in Ukraine,” Peskov said.

“The participants in the meeting exchanged views on the president’s upcoming meetings at the top and high levels scheduled for the next few days ahead of the Olympic Games in Sochi,” he said.

Taking part in the meeting were Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev; Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko; Kremlin Administration Chief Sergei Ivanov; Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev; Deputy Security Council Secretary Rashid Nurgaliyev; Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov; Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev; Federal Security Service Director (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov; Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Mikhail Fradkov; as well as Boris Gryzlov, a permanent member of the Russian Security Council, the presidential press secretary said.

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