NATO wants to increase and expand its joint exercises with Japan in areas ranging from maritime to cyberspace, in order to deal with the more and more intertwined security challenges of Europe and Asia, the transatlantic alliance's chief said Friday, Paralel.Az reports citing Kyodo News.

"The partnership with Japan has become even more important," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with Kyodo News.

Speaking in Washington a day after concluding a three-day summit marking NATO's 75th anniversary, Stoltenberg said the participation of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the alliance's highest-level annual discussions for the third straight year reflects the deepening cooperation between both sides.