MOSCOW - Russia said on Wednesday that the Middle East was teetering the brink of a major war and that key players were continuing to raise the stakes.

"The region is currently balancing on the brink of a global conflict," Andrei Nastasin, deputy spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry, said. "The parties continue to raise the stakes."

Russia said the "manic desire" of the United States to monopolise the process of political settlement in the Middle East had led to this situation.

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)