Putin: Western countries want to extend NATO-like system to the Asia-Pacific region

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony opening the international military-technical forum Army-2022 at Patriot Congress and Exhibition Centre in the Moscow region, Russia August 15, 2022. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Western countries were seeking to extend a "NATO-like system" into the Asia-Pacific region.

Delivering the welcome address at the Moscow international security conference, Putin said that the United States was trying to "drag out" the conflict in Ukraine, and that U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan earlier this month had been "a thoroughly planned provocation".

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Alison Williams)