BEIJING, October 30. /TASS/. Western strategy of increasing the conflict with Russia could lead to a military showdown between nuclear powers, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at the 10th Xiangshan Security Forum.

"The Western policy of steady escalation of the conflict with Russia carries the threat of a direct military clash between nuclear powers, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences," he said.

"The United States and NATO continue to seriously hope that they will be able to undermine Russia's security and deprive us of the will to resist," the minister added.

However, he believes that the reality in the zone of the special military operation shows that these strategies are futile.