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MOSCOW. April 17 (Interfax) - Russia and NATO should continue their dialogue, including on military doctrines and exchange of experiences in armed forces reform, says Dmitry Balakin, the director of the NATO division within the Russian Foreign Ministry's General European Cooperation Department.

file photo of U.S. diplomat"The potential of the Russia-NATO Council is far from having been exhausted. It is necessary to continue dialogue with NATO on military doctrines and exchange experiences in reforming the armed forces and lift politicized barriers on the way of military-technological cooperation," Balakin said during a student role game on 'Russia-NATO Council's International Model' on Tuesday.

The Russia-NATO Council practically helps develop partnership between the alliance and Moscow, he said.

"We have quite a lot of examples of cooperation and partnership: our helicopter pilots have repeatedly rescued the crews of the International Security Assistance Force helicopters downed by insurgents' fire, and we have also helped evacuate employees of a number of European embassies from hot spots," Balakin said.

On the other hand, NATO provided assistance to Russia during the 2010 forest fires, has repeatedly held rescue operations at sea, and is continuing cooperation with Moscow in combating international terrorism, Balakin said.

He reiterated that no country can deal with new global problems on its own.

"Actions by international terrorist organizations and pirates call for regular monitoring and active joint responses. The problems of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are very urgent, and it is clear that they cannot be solved without collective efforts," he said.

It was reported earlier that a Russia-NATO Council ministerial meeting would take place on Thursday, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would take part in it.

Keywords: Russia, NATO - Russian News - Russia