Aliaksandr Lukashenka received Belarusian Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin on 13 August with a “closed report”, Lukashenka’s official website reported. The meeting discussed preparations for the Zapad-2025 joint exercise with Russia, the operational situation near Belarus’ borders, and readiness to respond to new threats.
After the conversation, Khrenin said the Zapad-2025 exercises will focus on planning the use of nuclear weapons and the Oreshnik missile.
“This is an important element of strategic deterrence for us, first of all… we have to be ready for everything. We see the situation on our western, northern border and cannot calmly observe militarisation and military activity,” state news agency BelTA quoted Khrenin as saying.
According to him, the Belarusian and Russian servicemen will separately work out the issue of using the complex “Oreshnik” during the exercises. Earlier it was reported that the complex “Oreshnik” would be deployed in Belarus by the end of 2025.
A day earlier, August 12, the Ministry of Defence of Belarus announced that the exercise “West-2025” would be held from September 12 to 16. The main purpose of the exercise is to test the capabilities of Belarus and the Russian Federation to ensure security and repel possible aggression.
The number of servicemen, who will participate in the exercise, has not yet been announced.
Initially, the Belarusian authorities stressed the planned and regular nature of these exercises, but recently they have been increasingly claiming that they are a response to “militarisation” in neighbouring Poland and the Baltic States.