MOSCOW, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Russia is taking all necessary measures to secure its national interests in the Arctic amid Washington's "unacceptable" attempts to unilaterally expand its territorial claims in the Arctic, Russia's Sputnik news agency has reported.

"We have taken and will continue to take all measures that are necessary for our national interests in this geographical area," Grigory Karasin, chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, said when answering a question about whether Washington's recently announced claims to the continental shelf pose any threat to Russia.

Nikolai Kharitonov, the head of the State Duma Committee on the Arctic, told Sputnik that unilaterally expanding boundaries on the shelf in the Arctic by the United States is unacceptable and may lead to increased tension.

The U.S. State Department said in a Dec. 19 announcement that it released geographic coordinates defining the outer limits of the U.S. extended continental shelf (ECS). The area measures approximately 1 million square kilometers and covers seven regions.

The State Department claims that the borders determined by the United States do not create territorial disputes with Russia, but will require settlement with Canada and Japan.

The United States has expanded its territorial claims in the Arctic, with the State Department recently publishing a map determining the outer limits of a big chunk of seabed which it said "holds many resources."

Predominantly in the Arctic and the Bering Sea where regional countries also have claims, the ECS -- an extension of territory under sea -- declared by Washington spreads across the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico as well, the map showed. Enditem

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