Armenia should be ready to participate in any NATO program. Armenian defense minister Serge Sargsian told journalists. In his words, to cooperate with the North Atlantic Alliance it is not obligatory to be its member. "We consider enlarging our participation in "Partnership for Peace" NATO program and are ready to participate in other NATO programs," - S. Sargsian said. At the same time the minister gave a positive evaluation of "Cooperative Best Effort- 2003" military exercise held in Armenia. As he noted after the completion of the maneuvers, the fact that "the military from 19 countries managed to become a collective and to unite for the idea of sustaining peace" was one of the main results. S. Sargsian noted that the Armenian armed forces gained certain experience, too.