NOVO-OGARYOVO, July 11./ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday evening, before the departure for South America, held a meeting with permanent Security Council members to discuss the situation in Ukraine and around it and the growing number of refugees arriving from Ukraine in Russia. Issues related to the South American trip were also discussed.

Participating in the meeting were Prime-Minister Dmitry Medvedev, heads of both parliament houses Valentina Matviyenko and Sergei Naryshkin, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov, Foreign Intelligence Service Director Mikhail Fradkov, Deputy Security Council Secretary Rashid Nurgaliyev and Security Council member Boris Gryzlov.