Russia, China flex muscles in joint war games

By Guy Faulconbridge

CHEBARKUL, Russia (Reuters) - Russia and China staged their biggest joint exercises on Friday but denied this show of military prowess could lead to the formation of a counterweight to NATO.

The war games were staged under the flag of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a regional grouping that includes Russia, China and four Central Asian states.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who watched the war games with Chinese President Hu Jintao, dismissed comparisons with the western North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

"Today's exercises are another step towards strengthening the relations between our countries, a step towards strengthening international peace and security, and first and foremost, the security of our peoples," Putin said.

Fighter jets swooped overhead, commandos jumped from helicopters on to rooftops and the boom of artillery shells shook the firing range in Russia's Ural mountains as two of the largest armies in the world were put through their paces.

The exercises take place against a backdrop of mounting rivalry between the West, and Russia and China for influence over Central Asia, a strategic region that has huge oil, gas and mineral resources.

Russia's growing assertiveness is also causing jitters in the West. Putin announced at the firing range that Russia was resuming Soviet-era sorties by its strategic bomber aircraft near NATO airspace.