MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced his intention to establish a new office of deputy head of the Russian Security Council and appoint Dmitry Medvedev to this post. He made the statement at a meeting with cabinet ministers.

"I believe that it is possible and I will do this in the future, I will introduce the post of the Security Council’s deputy chair. As it is known, president is the chairperson of the Security Council," Putin said. "Dmitry [Medvedev] has always been dealing with these issues. From the standpoint of enhancing our defense capability and security, I believe that it is possible and asked him to handle issues of this kind in the future."

Putin recalled that Medvedev is a former president and has been heading the government for almost eight years. "It is possibly the longest time anyone served in this position in modern history," he commented.

Speaking of Medvedev’s future appointment, the Russian leader stressed that "there is a clear cluster of presidential [obligations] and there is a government cluster, although president is responsible for everything here." According to Putin, the presidential cluster primarily involves security and defense issues.

He emphasized that changes are required to be introduced into standing laws and bills to appoint Medvedev, which will be done in the near future. "Soon, I will ask lawmakers to support it, but legal experts should give their assessments," Putin concluded.

The Russian Security Council is a constitutional body overseeing drafting of presidential decisions on issues of the country’s development strategy, safeguarding vital interests of citizens, society and state from internal and external threats and advancing a united state policy to ensure national security.

Vladimir Putin is the chairperson of the Security Council by virtue of his presidency. The body is also composed of the Secretary of the Security Council (Nikolai Patrushev has been holding the office since 2008), permanent members of the council and non-permanent members named by the president. Putin regularly holds meetings with the council’s permanent members.