MOSCOW, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Russia has to shift to cooperation with Asian electronic device makers since traditional suppliers were cut off by the Western embargo, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said Thursday.

The difficult circumstances of the electronic industry have prompted Russia to expand cooperation with Asian producers, Borisov said at a radio-electronic scientific conference underway in Crimea's resort city of Yalta.

"The industry currently is dealing with a very different situation compared with that of seven years ago. The high technological sphere has become the worst-affected area of the sanctions," Borisov said, admitting that the Russian electronic industry cannot work without close global cooperation.

However, "the world is not limited by Europe and the United States," the Interfax news agency quoted Borisov as saying.

China and Malaysia are the countries that could replace Western makers in Russia's high-tech markets, he added.

In particular, the Russian defense industry has been seeking a swift substitution for the Ukraine-made electronic components, Borisov said.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in late July that the government was working on issues relating to substitution for imports of dual-purpose equipment and technologies from NATO countries.