The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Anton Vaino, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Kiriyenko, Deputy Prime Minister – Chief of the Government Staff Dmitry Grigorenko, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, deputy prime ministers Viktoria Abramchenko, Tatyana Golikova, Alexander Novak, Alexei Overchuk, Marat Khusnullin, Dmitry Chernyshenko, Presidential Aide Maxim Oreshkin, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov and Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov. Also invited to the meeting were Presidential Aide Igor Levitin, Minister for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Natural Disaster Relief Alexander Kurenkov, Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, Sovcomflot CEO Igor Tonkovidov and Director General of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives Svetlana Chupsheva.
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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues.
Our keynote speaker today, Mr Belousov, will talk about the development of shipping. This is a very big and important issue, and we will focus on it.
But at the outset, we will consider a few operational issues as usual. One of them has to do with the official visit by the President of Tajikistan to Russia, which has just ended. We discussed a number of issues on the bilateral agenda. I would like to thank all my colleagues from the Government who were involved in the preparation of this visit and drafting the relevant documents. The visit was very well organised and produced a good result.
One of the issues we discussed had to do with ensuring common security. And I would like to briefly mention one of the aspects, especially because tomorrow in Minsk, I will meet with our colleagues from the CSTO (the Collective Security Treaty Organisation).
So, one of the issues [we discussed] had to do with establishing a single joint air defence system of the CSTO countries. We have already done a lot of work in this regard. As for Tajikistan, the question the President of Tajikistan raised yesterday as well as during the working breakfast today concerns what we have been doing in this area. We have already delivered two battalions of our S300 air defence systems to Tajikistan. That is eight launchers.
In general, we are ready to work, to continue and complete this work as part of the CSTO. But I would like to remind you that the Government must issue a corresponding directive by the end of this year. In the morning, the Minister reported on the progress of the work. It is a technical issue, but I ask you not to lose sight of it and carry it through.
Next, I would like to ask Mr Kurenkov to tell us about the work on the evacuation of Russians from the Gaza Strip and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the area. The situation there has long since reached the critical point. I think 900 people have asked us to get them out of there. That includes 639 Russian citizens and another 271, their family members.
Mr Kurenkov, how is this work going?
Minister for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Natural Disaster Relief Alexander Kurenkov: Mr President,
In pursuance of your instructions, the Emergencies Ministry, as well as the Foreign Ministry, the Federal Security Service, the Interior Ministry, the Healthcare Ministry and other relevant federal executive agencies, have organised the work to evacuate Russian citizens from the Gaza Strip.
To this end, on November 3, the Ministry sent its task force to Egypt in cooperation with representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry. They meet Russian citizens at the Rafah checkpoint and assist them in passing through customs. After crossing the border, people are taken by buses to a hotel in Cairo, where they wait for their flights to the Russian Federation.
An interdepartmental response centre has been set up at Domodedovo Airport, where arriving citizens are provided with basic necessities, warm clothes, water, and hot meals. We are being aided by the Government of the Moscow Region and volunteer organisations. People receive information support and assistance in replacing their lost documents. Doctors and psychologists work with them throughout the evacuation process.
Mr President, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, 910 people have asked for help in evacuating, including 639 Russian citizens and 271 Palestinians who are their family members. The Russian Emergencies Ministry aviation division has received no evacuation applications from citizens of other states.
To date, 484 citizens of the Russian Federation and 87 non-Russian citizens who are their family members have crossed the Rafah checkpoint.
Six Emergencies Ministry flights have transported 553 people, including 259 children, to Domodedovo Airport, while 18 people are still in a hotel in Cairo, waiting to be evacuated. Upon arrival in Russia, nine people, including six children, were sent to medical institutions. Two of them, including one child, were diagnosed with COVID.
After completing all the necessary procedures, 116 people, including 44 children, left the airport to reach their places of residence on their own. The rest were taken to temporary accommodation centres in the Moscow and Kaluga regions. Work is underway to arrange accommodation for these people in other regions of Russia. To date, there are 313 people staying in these centres, including 161 children.
For those who want to travel to other regions of Russia to establish residence there, railway tickets are being issued as soon as possible. In total, since the beginning of evacuation, 116 people, including 48 children, have been sent to 16 regions of Russia.
Alongside evacuations, Emergencies Ministry aviation is delivering humanitarian aid to the population of the Gaza Strip. Over 245 tonnes of cargo from Rosreserve (Federal Agency for State Reserves) and relief collected by the regions were delivered to El Arish in just ten flights. One more flight with 28 tonnes of humanitarian aid is scheduled for November 23.
Mr President, the evacuation of citizens of the Russian Federation and delivery of humanitarian aid have been organised and are under our special control. We promptly resolve problems in the regular course of work.
This concludes my report.
Vladimir Putin: Mr Kurenkov, is our humanitarian aid passing through the state border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip? Does it eventually reach consumers?
Alexander Kurenkov: Yes, Mr President, it reaches its destination. It is assembled in El Arish, a military airfield 40 km away from the Rafah checkpoint. The Egyptian authorities decided that all humanitarian aid is assembled at this airfield. Then convoys are formed and move in a 40-km march when it is allowed and when there is an opportunity.
Vladimir Putin: So, our humanitarian assistance is going to Gaza, right?
Alexander Kurenkov: Yes, Mr President, it is going there, accompanied by the same groups that are at the Rafah checkpoint. We are watching them pass.
Vladimir Putin: All right. Do you need any additional support from the Government?
Alexander Kurenkov: Mr President, everything is proceeding in due course. We are clear on everything and we are doing our job. We will ask you for help as soon as we need it.
Vladimir Putin: Ok. Thank you. This is a very important humanitarian, noble mission. It is necessary to help people that are suffering in the current circumstances. We see what is happening there, and so it is our sacred duty to help these people, especially our citizens.
Thank you.
To be continued.
Source – The Russian Kremlin: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/72788