Russia begins war games with China

CHITA, Russia — Hundreds of thousands Russian troops swept across Siberia on Tuesday in the nation’s largest ever war games also joined by China — a powerful show of burgeoning military ties between Moscow and Beijing amid their tensions with the U.S.

Moscow said the weeklong Vostok 2018 maneuvers will span vast expanses of Siberia and the Far East, the Arctic and Pacific oceans, and involve nearly 300,000 Russian troops — nearly one-third of the country’s 1-million-strong military.

They will feature more than 1,000 aircraft, with as many as 36,000 tanks and other military vehicles and 80 warships.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has described the drills as even bigger than the country’s largest Cold War-era exercise called Zapad 1981 that put NATO allies on edge.

A retired Russian general said that the giant war games come as a warning to the U.S. against ramping up pressure on Russia.

“The maneuvers are aimed at deterring the aggressive intentions of the U.S. and NATO,” Ret. Gen. Leonid Ivashov said.

China is sending about 3,200 troops, 900 combat vehicles and 30 aircraft to join the drills at a Siberian firing range, a significant deployment that reflects its shift toward a fullfledged military alliance with Russia. Mongolia also has sent a military contingent.

Asked if the U.S. is worried about a possible military alliance between Russia and China, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told Pentagon reporters Tuesday: “I think that nations act out of their interests. I see little in the long term that aligns Russia and China.”