The global situation has not stabilized over the past year. On the contrary, many existing threats and challenges have only become more acute requiring extra efforts from security services. Vladimir Putin stated this today at the FSB staff meeting. It was held in order to discuss the FSB’s results for 2016 and the priority tasks for 2017. What are the security forces required to do whilst Russia is being drawn into a confrontation? My colleague Dmitry Petrov reports on the issue.

Opening the meeting, President of Russia Vladimir Putin pays special attention to the situation in Donbass. Within the past 24 hours over 1000 acts of violation of the cease-fire on the part of Ukraine were registered. At the front line the shelling doesn't stop even for an hour. According to DPR intelligence reports Ukrainian troops are building up forces and preparing for a breakthrough Putin regards another escalation as an attempt to draw Russia into a full-scale conflict.

Putin: "This escalation pursues a clear objective of preventing the Minsk Agreements from going ahead. The current Ukrainian authorities are obviously not seeking a peaceful solution to this very complex problem and have decided to opt for the use of force instead. What is more, they openly speak about organizing sabotage and terrorism also in Russia. Obviously, this is a matter of great concern".

Alex Stogniy, Evgeny Panov, Gleb Shabliy are only some of Ukrainian spies which were hunted down and neutralized by FSB agents. Among them was lieutenant-colonel Yuriy Ivanchenko from SBU who was successfully uncovered last year in spring. The heads of all national security agencies are attending the FSB meeting. The results of the operating activity over the past year are being discussed and the priorities for the upcoming year are being defined. Speaking at the meeting, President of Russia Vladimir Putin praised the contribution of the FSB and of each of its employees to the protection of the constitutional order.

But the global situation has not become any more stable over the past year. The Middle East, Asia and Africa see new bloody conflicts breaking out. NATO activity doesn't promote stability either. Putin: "At the NATO summit last July in Warsaw, for the first time since 1989, Russia was declared the main threat to the alliance and NATO officially proclaimed containing Russia as its new mission. They have speeded up the deployment of strategic and conventional arms beyond the national borders of the NATO member states. They are provoking us constantly and are trying to draw us into confrontation. We see continued attempts to interfere in our internal affairs with the aim of destabilizing the social and political situation in Russia".

At the same time the head of state draws attention of the security services to the fact that it is in our common interest to restore dialogue with the US intelligence services and with other NATO member countries. Putin: "It is not our fault that these ties were broken and are not developing. It is very clear that as regards counter-terrorism all responsible countries and international groups should work together, because even simply exchanging information on terrorists’ financing channels and sources as well as on people involved in or suspected of links with terrorism can substantially improve the results of our common efforts".

Summing up the results of the FSB's work in the past year, the President specifically emphasizes that 45 terrorism related crimes were prevented. Special Purpose Forces conduct targeted operations to liquidate militants. They also withdraw weapons and explosives from illegal commerce. But the President stresses that it's important to eliminate their financial base, prevent the activities of their emissaries from abroad. The society expects better results from the Russian special services in such key areas as economic security and the fight against corruption. Putin: "I ask you to be particularly thorough in monitoring the funds allocated for state defense procurement. Regrettably, there are still many cases of state funds being embezzled or misappropriated.

The murder of Russia's Ambassador to Turkey highlighted the need to protect Russian diplomats and missions. The President asks the FSB as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Foreign Intelligence Service to take additional measures to ensure their safety.