Russia and its partners in NATO are determined to expand cooperation in resisting extremism, in promoting non-proliferation, in preventing the spread of delivery vehicles for weapons of mass destrcution, and in theater missile defence, the Interfax news agency quoted Sergei Ivanov as telling Russian reporters.

"Not only have proposals been put forward but concrete practical steps, including exercises, have been mapped out," he said ahead of the meeting Friday.

There are also "serious plans of increasing the operational compatibility of NATO and Russian troops," he said.

Ivanov said that NATO and Russia intended to cooperate more fully in Afghanistan "given that in the autumn, NATO will fully assume control over peacekeeping and stabilization in Afghanistan."

Warning that the situation in Afghanistan was "getting worse and worse," he noted that destabilisation in that country "affects security in Russia."

Ivanov noted that "practical results" have been achieved since the creation of the Russia-NATO Council in Rome in May last year, and that "the most important thing is that the sides have an idea of key spheres of cooperation in which we will have to work in 2003-2004."

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