US aims to provoke regional instability with Pelosi's Taiwan visit: Putin

MOSCOW - US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent visit to Taiwan is part of a deliberate US strategy to destabilize the situation in the region, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

He noted that the visit wasn't just carried out by one "irresponsible politician", but was part of an underlying strategy, through which the United States was seeking to destabilize the situation in the Asia-Pacific region and the whole world.

During his speech at the 10th annual Moscow Conference on International Security, Putin called the move "a brazen demonstration of disrespect for the sovereignty of other countries and for international obligations" and a carefully planned provocation.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the conference on Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu similarly noted that Pelosi's provocative landing in Taiwan was yet another step to destabilize the region.