YAKUTSK, August 7. /TASS/. The development of Russia’s Far Eastern regions should be consistent with the country’s security interests, national Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said on Monday.

During a meeting dedicated to ways of ensuring security in the Far East, held in the city of Yakutsk, Patrushev pointed out that "the development of the Far Eastern regions is important as far as ensuring national security is concerned." "This is vital because of the special nature of international relations and cross-border cooperation, as well as because of the need to achieve Russia’s foreign policy goals, particularly aimed at integration with the Asia-Pacific countries. However, development activities should be consistent with the national security interests," Patrushev added.

At the same time, the Russian Security Council secretary stressed that the main thing was to ensure the comfort of people, benefit from competitive advantages and create conditions for the development of cooperation with the neighboring countries’ border areas.

"The federal government, regional and local authorities should make efforts to achieve these goals," Patrushev said. "However, the development trend in the Far Eastern border areas does not fully meet with the goal of ensuring Russia’s national security," he noted.

The national Security Council secretary went on to say that there was a significant imbalance in living standards. "Low incomes have been hampering effective demand and undermining efforts to boost business activities," Patrushev said adding that "issues concerning infrastructure development, transport cost optimization and energy cost reduction have not been solved yet."

At the same time, Patrushev highlighted the importance of protecting border settlements from natural disasters such as floods and wildfires.