Russia has launched what it has called its largest ever military drills, with hundreds of thousands of troops joining Chinese soldiers in a show of force condemned by Nato as a rehearsal for large-scale conflict, the Guardian reported.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, is expected to attend the exercises after hosting an economic forum in Vladivostok where his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, is a guest.

The week-long exercise, known as Vostok-2018 (East-2018) “have kicked off” in far-eastern Russia, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.

Taking part in the drills are around 300,000 Russian soldiers, 36,000 military vehicles, 80 ships and 1,000 aircraft, helicopters and drones, as well as 3,500 Chinese troops.

The Russian defence ministry released video footage of military vehicles, planes, helicopters and ships getting into position for the initial stage of the drills.

Putin talked up Russia’s increasingly close ties with China as he met Xi in Vladivostok on Tuesday. “We have trustworthy ties in political, security and defence spheres,” the Russian leader said.

Xi said the two countries’ friendship was “getting stronger all the time”.

The military exercises come amid escalating tensions between Moscow and the west over accusations of Russian interference in western affairs and conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.