MOSCOW, November 1./TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin held a session with the permanent members of the Russian Security Council, expressing hope, in particular, that the activity of the Syrian Constitutional Committee would continue without pressure from outside, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

"The recent first session of the Syrian Constitutional Committee received positive assessment at the meeting. Hope was expressed that the activity of this committee will continue without any pressure from third states," Peskov said. "The Syrian people themselves must decide their destiny," he added.

The session "touched upon issues of putting into practice major international projects in the field of gas pipeline construction," as well as current domestic issues, Peskov stated.

Taking part in the session were Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the speakers of the upper and lower houses of the parliament — Valentina Matviyenko and Vyacheslav Volodin, head of the presidential administration Anton Vaino, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov, Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergei Naryshkin and Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport Sergei Ivanov.

The decision to set up a Syrian constitutional committee was made during the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, held in the Russian resort city of Sochi on January 30, 2018. The committee is made of 150 people, divided up into 50 delegates from Damascus, the opposition and civil societies each.

The first session of the Syrian Constitutional Committee took place in Geneva on October 30.