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JUDY WOODRUFF: Now, all this 
week in the vast expanse of 
Siberia, Russian military forces

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have been conducting the largest 
war games in a generation.

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As Nick Schifrin reports, 
the exercises are as 
much about projecting 
power as demonstrating

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it.

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NICK SCHIFRIN: In Russia's far 
east, the troops are on parade 
and the tanks extend as far

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as the eye can see.

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Not since the Soviet era has 
the Russian military showed off 
this much weaponry and tried to

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convince the world not only 
the Russians are coming, but 
they have already arrived, with

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sound and fury.

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Short-range ballistic missiles 
fired at a hypothetical 
enemy, an all-out assault from

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the ground and air simulating 
conventional war, soldiers 
rappelling from helicopters,

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as if they were 
launching an invasion.

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The Russian Navy flooded the 
Bering Sea that separates Russia 
from Alaska, and ships launch

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cruise missiles at 
hypothetical enemy boats.

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All hailed as proof a military 
that, 15 years ago, was 
depleted and demoralized can now

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mobilize what the Russians 
claim is their largest exercise 
since the Cold War, said

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Russian President 
Vladimir Putin.

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VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian 
President (through translator): 
Our duty to the homeland is to

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be ready to defend 
the sovereignty, the 
security and the national 
interests of our country.

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MICHAEL KOFMAN, Center 
for Naval Analyses: They 
sound very impressive 
to a domestic audience,

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because they make it seem like, 
well, Russia is a great power 
that in many ways has been

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restored in terms of 
military capability.

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And they also sound very 
impressive to foreign 
audiences, right?

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NICK SCHIFRIN: Michael Kofman 
is a senior research scientist 
at the Center for Naval

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Analyses.

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He says the exercise isn't 
only to improve Russian 
deployment and coordination.

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It's also about increasing what 
he calls coercive diplomacy 
against other countries.

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MICHAEL KOFMAN: If you want to 
push people around leveraging 
the military power that

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you have, the threat of 
force, but that's where 
the force has to be seen.

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People have to believe it.

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It's got to be made credible.

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And, of course, the 
bigger, more exaggerated 
it seems, potentially, 
the better your course

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of diplomacy.

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NICK SCHIFRIN: And the 
diplomacy of this exercise 
is all about China.

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Those are Chinese troops and 
Chinese helicopters integrated 
into a simulated Russian attack.

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The two militaries have 
worked together before, but 
never this high-profile.

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And never before has a Chinese 
president participated.

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At a nearby economic forum, Xi 
Jinping and Putin showed off 
their relationship and cooking

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skills.

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They made Russian pancakes 
with a healthy dollop of 
caviar, washed down with vodka.

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Xi rarely conducts 
public diplomacy.

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And, watching themselves, 
the two were at 
times self-conscious.

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But at a moment when the U.S. 
is talking about great power 
competition, China tied itself

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to Russia.

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XI JINPING, Chinese President 
(through translator): 
We will continue to 
make joint efforts to

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consolidate our 
traditional friendship, 
enhance our comprehensive 
cooperation, and push the

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China-Russia relationship 
up to a new height.

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MICHAEL KOFMAN: The two are 
increasingly demonstrating 
something very important.

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They don't see each 
other as a threat, but 
they are responding 
to a shared about that

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they perceive in 
the United States.

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And it's important to understand 
that alliances between classical 
powers, great powers, they're

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not made out of love, affection 
or trust, or even -- or even 
mutual appearances making

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pancakes.

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They're made in response 
to a larger threat.

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And that larger threat is very 
clearly the United States.

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NICK SCHIFRIN: The West 
considers Russia increasingly 
hostile, the 2014 annexation 
of Crimea, ongoing

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battles by Russian-backed 
separatists in Eastern 
Ukraine, and the Russian 
military intervention

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in Syria that saved 
President Bashar al-Assad.

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In response, the U.S. has 
deployed more troops to Europe 
than at any time since the Cold

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War.

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Just this week, 
NATO jets practiced 
intercepting Russian jets.

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It's a sign that NATO is 
more united against Russia, 
NATO's secretary-general, 
Jens Stoltenberg,

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said today in Washington

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JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO 
Secretary-General: 
Because we see a more 
assertive Russia investing

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in modern capabilities, 
that's the reason why 
NATO has implemented the 
biggest reinforcement

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of our collective defense.

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NICK SCHIFRIN: Analysts 
believe Russia doesn't 
want confrontation with 
the West, but it wants

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the world to believe that it 
can exert force and frighten, 
with a little help from their

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friends.

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For the "PBS NewsHour," 
I'm Nick Schifrin.