BISHKEK, May 24. /TASS/. The number of countries reluctant to bow to "commands from outside" is growing, and Russia is closely cooperating with them, including in the sphere of counter-terrorism, the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov has said.

He explained his vision of the existing threats and trends at a meeting of the heads of security bodies and special services of the CIS countries, which has opened in Bishkek under his chairmanship.

"Our special services have to work in a volatile international situation. The list of states that are reluctant to harm the interests of their own people on commands from outside is growing. Russia closely cooperates with these countries," he noted.

"We use the long-established and new contacts in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America, primarily in the field of countering international terrorism," the FSB chief said.

"We consider it as a positive trend we have found common grounds in this matter with the new authorities of Afghanistan," he added.

Bortnikov urged the CIS partners to be more actively involved in the joint work to protect the southern borders of the Commonwealth, especially in the current conditions.

"I believe that such an approach will be a common priority of the security and special services of the CIS countries," he said.