Russia would like to strengthen its military cooperation with France in the future 0211123.

Serdyukov has just returned from the Russia-France Security Cooperation Council, which was also attended by his French counterpart Laurent Fabius, as well as the foreign ministers of the two countries.

The Paris meeting was the first in which Russian and French ministers of defense and foreign affairs met in a "2+2" format.

"As a whole, everything is quite positive. We've discussed many topics. So our talks were very considerate," Serdyukov said, adding that Moscow and Paris also held close positions on the Syrian crisis.

Serdyukov said the French defense ministry wanted to learn about Russian experience in army reforms and the two sides planned 69 joint events for 2013, including three joint naval exercises.

The Russian minister also confirmed the construction of two Mistral class landing ships was underway.

The French were ready to send their armored vehicles to Russia for field tests, Serdyukov said, adding the two sides did not reach any agreements at the meeting.