Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu rang warning bells for the West that the escalation of disturbances in rapports with Russia in the Ukraine war cause threats to a “direct military clash between nuclear powers” at a defence forum in Beijing on Monday. “The Western line of steady escalation of the conflict with Russia holds the dreadful fear of a direct military dispute between nuclear powers, which is fraught with destructive results,” Russia’s TASS state news agency cited Shoigu as saying. Shoigu also said the West intends to inflict “strategic defeat” on Russia in a “hybrid war”, and appreciated the model of Russia-China rapports as “exemplary”, Russian state media reported.