PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKIY, May 6. /TASS/. The US Coast Guard and the border guards of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) will consider resuming joint drills in the area delimiting the maritime boundaries of the two countries in the Pacific Ocean, the press office of the FSB’s Directorate for the Eastern Arctic Region said on Monday.

The FSB’s press office made this statement following a visit by representatives of Russia’s Border Guard Service to the United States.

"In Anchorage (the state of Alaska, USA), a meeting was held between experts of the FSB’s Border Guard Directorate for the Eastern Arctic Region and the US Coast Guard’s 17th District. The sides discussed the results of inter-agency interaction and worked out further areas of cooperation. Besides, the sides agreed to consider holding joint drills in the area delimiting the maritime boundaries of the two countries," the statement says.

As the FSB’s Board Guard Directorate noted, the consistently developing cooperation and the high level of inter-agency information interaction between the US Coast Guard and Russia’s Border Guard Service have helped considerably reduce poaching in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean.

The Alaska and Kamchatka border guards signed an agreement on cooperation in protecting aquatic biological resources in the convention area in 1996. Cooperation envisages efforts for preventing violations of fishing rules, ensuring control of customs declaration of fishing catches, and also protecting the Northern Sea Route between Chukotka and Alaska. The FSB’s Border Guard Directorate for the Eastern Arctic Region is responsible for protecting the border that is over 20,000 km long and makes up a third of Russia’s total borders.