Putin meets with members of the Russian Security Council at the Kremlin, including his top spymaster Mikhail Fradkov

Putin meets with Security Council members, including Mikhail Fradkov the Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Agency (SVR).

Vladimir Putin held a briefing session with permanent members of the Security Council. The meeting participants discussed current issues on the international agenda.

In particular, there was an exchange of views on strengthening Russia’s position in the *Arctic region.

The meeting also approved the decision to begin the process of withdrawing from a number of bilateral Russian-Ukrainian agreements: the Agreement between Russia and Ukraine on the Parameters of Division of the Black Sea Fleet, signed in Kiev on May 28, 1997; the Agreement between Russia and Ukraine on the Status and Conditions of the Presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the Territory of Ukraine, signed in Kiev on May 28, 1997; the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Ukraine on Payments Associated with the Division of the Black Sea Fleet and Its Presence on the Territory of Ukraine, signed in Kiev on May 28, 1997; and the Agreement between Russia and Ukraine on the Presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the Territory of Ukraine, signed in Kharkov on April 21, 2010.

Taking part in the meeting were Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Ivanov, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Defence MinisterSergei Shoigu, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov, Foreign Intelligence Service Director Mikhail Fradkov, and permanent member of the Security Council Boris Gryzlov.