DUSHANBE. Dec 7 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov plans to raise the issue of closer cooperation in security when he attends the upcoming meeting of the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council in Brussels.
Security is the field in which more cooperation is needed, while Russia is self-sufficient in defense, he told the press in response to an Interfax question upon arrival in Dushanbe.
Russia knows full well that it is not expected to join the alliance's military organization and is not pressing for integration into NATO's structures, Ivanov said.
"As to the security policy and, first of all, counteraction to new threats, I mean, combating terrorism, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, various conflicts and ways of their settlement, we are ready for interaction in these spheres," the minister stressed.
"The mechanism that currently exists in this sphere of interaction fails to satisfy any of the parties," Ivanov said. ap cj