Russia's Defence Minister accuses West of seeking to expand Ukraine war to Asia-Pacific

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the West wants to expand the conflict in the Ukraine to the Asia-Pacific region, Russian state media reported, citing comments made at a Beijing defence forum on Monday.

Speaking at the Xiangshan Forum, China's biggest military diplomacy event, Shoigu said NATO is covering up a build-up of forces in the Asia-Pacific region with an "ostentatious desire for dialogue", Russia's TASS news agency reported.

Shoigu said NATO countries were promoting an arms race in the region and increasing their military presence and increasing the frequency and scale of military drills there.

US forces will use information exchanges with Tokyo and Seoul on missile launches to deter Russia and China, Shoigu said.

At the same time, he said, Russia's move to revoke its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty did not mean the end of the agreement, and Russia was not lowering its threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.

"The Western line of steady escalation of the conflict with Russia carries the threat of a direct military clash between nuclear powers, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences," Russia's TASS cited Shoigu as saying.

Shoigu also claimed the West intends to inflict "strategic defeat" on Russia in a "hybrid war", and praised the model of Russia-China relations as "exemplary", Russian state media reported.