Putin Discusses Syria, Visit of Kerry With Security Council - Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with the permanent members of the country's Security Council and discussed issues related to the Syrian crisis and the visits of the US state secretary and the German foreign minister to Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to Peskov, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Federal Security Service (FSB) head Alexander Bortnikov were among high-ranking officials who participated in the meeting.

"President presented the results of his recent contacts with US State Secretary John Kerry and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to the members of the Security Council. They also discussed positive dynamics in the ongoing struggle against terrorist groups and organizations in Syria, which is conducted by this country's armed forces with the support of Russia's Aerospace Forces," Peskov said.

He added that some social and economic issues were also on the agenda of the meeting.

Last week, Kerry and Steinmeier separately visited Moscow where they had meetings with Putin and discussed a number of issues, including the ongoing Syrian civil war and the recent Moscow's decision to pull the majority of its troops out of the Middle East country.