The Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement last week that “the cooperation between the regimes in Moscow and Minsk poses an immediate threat not only to Ukraine, but also to Poland, the Baltic states and all of Europe.”
In the context of the planned in the coming weeks military exercises of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in the territory of the Republic of Belarus, namely “Interaction-2025”, “Search-2025”, “Echelon-2025”, and the joint strategic exercises of the armed forces… pic.twitter.com/PE42AzMDx7
— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) August 22, 2025
“We call on our partners to remain vigilant, to increase sanctions and political pressure on Russia and Belarus, to jointly counter Russian propaganda and strengthen Ukraine’s defence capabilities, which protect Europe from the Russian threat,” the statement said.
It added that “the build-up of Russian troops on the borders of Ukraine in 2021-2022 took place under the cover of the joint military exercises of Russia and Belarus Zapad-2021.”
The Ukrainian foreign ministry warned Minsk against “reckless provocations,” advising it to “remain prudent, not to approach the borders and not to provoke the Defense Forces of Ukraine.”
The statement said Belarus “has been an accomplice” to Russia’s crime of aggression against Ukraine since 2022.
“Minsk has provided the Russian occupiers with the territory of Belarus and its airspace to attack our state, and also continues political, military, military-technical, informational and other types of support for Russia in its unprovoked and criminal war of aggression against Ukraine,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry said.
On August 13, Belarusian Defence Minister Viktar Khrenin announced that the Russian-Belarusian exercises would include “planning the use” of nuclear weapons and Oreshnik ballistic missiles, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Ukraina wzywa europejskich partnerów do czujności przed ćwiczeniami Zapad-2025#PAPinformacjehttps://t.co/y8c9IDTgLc
— PAP (@PAPinformacje) August 22, 2025
The Zapad-2025 exercises are scheduled to take place in Belarus from September 12 to 16. Around 13,000 troops are expected to participate.
Four years ago, Russia and its ally Belarus held the Zapad-2021 war games on sites close to the European Union’s borders, alarming Ukraine and some NATO countries, the Reuters news agency reported.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Friday is day 1,282 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(gs)
Source: PAP