MOSCOW, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Russia and NATO will make join efforts to fight international threats, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after meeting with Supreme Allied Commander Europe General James Jones here on Thursday.

    "Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization realize that it is necessary to jointly counteract international threats. Russia has additional proposals to NATO to make cooperation more mutually beneficial and effective," Lavrov was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

    Among those threats Lavrov named illicit drug trafficking, terrorism and organized crime. "We have common goals and a series of agreements within the Russia-NATO Council that help us join efforts to fight these threats."

    Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov met General Jones later Thursday.

    According to Ivanov, Russia and NATO will conduct joint exercises in 2006.

    "We're trying to build our cooperation with NATO on the basis of coordinated programs in the fields of mutual interest," Ivanov said. Enditem