Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has said that a visit to Taiwan by US House speaker Nancy Pelosi was a deliberate attempt by Washington to irritate China.

“I see no other reason to create such an annoyance almost out of the blue, knowing very well what it means for the People’s Republic of China”, - Mr Lavrov said on a visit to Myanmar.

Ms Pelosi’s arrival yesterday in Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway province, has prompted a furious response from Beijing including increased military tensions and trade curbs, at a time when international tensions are already elevated by the conflict in Ukraine.

The visit to Taiwan is the most senior by a US politician since then-House speaker Newt Gingrich went there in 1997.