CHINA JOINS RUSSIA FOR WAR GAMES

Nearly 300,000 Russian troops swept across Siberia in military exercises Tuesday as China joined in.

CHI TA, 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 United States.

Moscow said the weeklong Vostok (East) 2018 maneuvers will span vast expanses of Siberia and the Far East, the Arctic and the Pacific oceans and involve nearly 300,000 Russian troops — nearly onethird of the country’s 1millionstrong military. The maneuvers will feature more than 1,000 aircraft, about 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 Warera exer cise, called Zapad 1981, that put NATO allies on edge.

A retired Russian general said 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,” retired Gen. Leonid Ivashov said. He was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying the drills are “also a response to the U.S. sanctions.”

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.”

As the maneuvers kicked off, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Russia on Tuesday to attend an economic forum in Vladivostok. Russian President Vladimir Putin treated Xi to pancakes with caviar and shots of vodka in a show of their warm rapport.

Moscow and Beijing have forged what they described as a “strategic partnership,” expressing their shared opposition to the “unipolar” world, the term they use to describe perceived U.S. global domination.

However, the military drills they had until now were far smaller in scale, reflecting China’s caution about alliances.

Defense Ministry Press Service A Russian soldier guards a restricted area during the military exercises in the Chita region of Siberia on Tuesday. Nearly 300,000 Russian troops are involved in weeklong maneuvers.