Brussels - Russia and NATO should work harder at fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia together, Russia's ambassador to the Western alliance said Wednesday.

Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin has asked NATO member states for a "detailed discussion" of how to improve coordination between the NATO and Russian warships currently operating around the Gulf of Aden, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.

In particular, Rogozin asked the NATO-Russia Council - the regular format for talks between the Cold War foes - to consider improving communications between NATO and Russian warships in the pirate zone, and to look at the possibility of joint exercises and coordinated patrols.

NATO's deputy secretary general, Claudio Bisogniero, who chaired the meeting because his superior, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, was ill, said that the idea was interesting and suggested that the NRC's expert committees take it up in detail, Appathurai said.

NATO and Russia have both deployed warships to the Gulf of Aden to deal with the threat of piracy there, with NATO despatching half a dozen frigates and Russia one or two destroyers, depending on the season.

The two sides have been at odds since last August, when Russia invaded NATO hopeful Georgia. However, in recent months they have begun to push for more cooperation in fields such as piracy, nuclear disarmament and the fight against drugs from Afghanistan.

It would not be the first time that the two sides' navies have worked together: Russian ships have in the past joined NATO's long-standing anti-terrorist mission in the Eastern Mediterranean.

However, NATO froze military cooperation with Russia in the wake of the Georgian war and only agreed to resume it at the end of June, making any deal on improving anti
-piracy cooperation potentially highly significant politically.(dpa)