Meeting with permanent members of the Security Council

Taking part in the meeting were State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin Volodin VyacheslavChairman of the State Duma , Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Anton Vaino Vaino AntonChief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office , Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu Shoigu SergeiSecretary of the Russian Federation Security Council , Presidential Aide Nikolai Patrushev Patrushev NikolaiAide to the President , Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev Kolokoltsev VladimirInterior Minister of the Russian Federation , Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Lavrov SergeiMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation , Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov Bortnikov AlexanderDirector of the Federal Security Service , and Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin Naryshkin SergeiDirector of the Foreign Intelligence Service .

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, good afternoon,

Today, we will discuss an issue that we address on a regular basis: interaction with our closest neighbours, the CIS countries.

We have always had, and I believe will continue to have, a special approach to this cooperation, both for historical reasons and due to the extensive work we carry out together with these countries, including economic cooperation.

These are our neighbours, and over the decades we have developed unique ties in the cultural and humanitarian spheres and in the human dimension: there are numerous mixed families, many shared interests in culture and other areas of fundamental importance.

With that, I would like to invite Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to begin our discussion. I am certain that our colleagues from the relevant sectors will have much to contribute and add to the report that he has prepared.

Please, Mr Lavrov.

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