ST. PETERSBURG, April 10. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is currently in St. Petersburg, met on Wednesday with the permanent members of the Russian Security Council to discuss issues related to the Arctic.

"The participants in the session continued discussing the Arctic issue, the head of state briefed them on his contacts with foreign heads of state and government on the sidelines of the International Arctic Forum," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS.

He said the session had "touched upon current issues in the social-economic development of the country, as well as certain issues on the international agenda".

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the speakers of the upper and lower houses of the Russian parliament - Valentina Matviyenko and Vyacheslav Volodin, presidential administration head Anton Vaino, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov, Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin as well as Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport Sergey Ivanov participated.

St. Petersburg is hosting the ‘Arctic: Territory of Dialogue’ International Arctic Forum on April 9-10. ‘The Arctic. The Ocean of Opportunities’ is this year’s theme at the forum. Roscongress is the official organizer, while TASS is a primary information partner and the official photo hosting provider.