A Russian government official has said that International peacekeeping by the United Nations could be the solution to problems in "uncontrolled" territories.

RIA Novosti reported on Sunday that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, speaking at a security conference in Singapore, identified areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border, the "Golden Triangle" southern provinces of Thailand and the southern Philippines as examples of "uncontrolled territories" posing security threats to their specific countries and to the region at large.

Ivanov also said that such territories are often safe havens for terrorists and pirates, and starting points of international drug traffic routes.

Ivanov further said, "Of course, the primary responsibility to restore administration in these areas should rest with the state to which those belong. However, in practice states are not always able to solve such problems on their own."

He said, "In these cases, peacemaking becomes an effective tool to restore and support the legitimate administration in uncontrolled territories."

According to Ivanov, Russia supports expansion of U. N preventive and anti-crisis peacekeeping activities. (With Inputs from Agencies)