US military officers observe Russia-Belarus war games as Trump gets closer to Minsk

NEAR BORISOV, Belarus (Reuters) - U.S. military officers observed joint war games between Russia and Belarus on Monday for the first time since Moscow used Belarus as a launchpad to enter Ukraine, as U.S. President Donald Trump deepens ties with Moscow's closest ally.

The presence of the U.S. officers, less than a week after neighbouring Poland shot down Russian drones that crossed into its airspace, is the latest sign that Washington is seeking to warm ties with Belarus.

Last week, Trump's representative John Coale visited Minsk and said Trump wanted to reopen the U.S. embassy there soon, normalise ties and revive trade.

TRUMP MAY BE SEEKING DIPLOMATIC GAINS

The U.S. military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Western foreign policy analysts speculate that Trump may be trying to peel Belarus away from Russia, a strategy widely viewed as unlikely to succeed, or to exploit its close ties with Moscow to promote a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

At least two U.S. military officers - Air Force Lt. Col. Bryan Shoupe and another unidentified officer - were in Belarus to observe the "Zapad-2025" war games, which were also being watched by Russian Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov.

Fighter jets, attack drones and helicopters flew over a training ground hemmed in by trees as infantry practised firing automatic weapons, mortars and missile systems and riding into combat on motorcycles.

The exercise, being held at training grounds in both countries, is a show of force that Russia and Belarus say is designed to test combat readiness.

But it has unnerved some neighbouring countries after the drone incursion into Poland as Moscow's war in Ukraine grinds towards its fourth year. Warsaw has temporarily closed its border with Belarus as a precaution.

Long a staunch Russian ally, President Alexander Lukashenko allowed Moscow to use Belarus to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, and has since allowed Russia to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

TRUMP COURTS BELARUS PRESIDENT LUKASHENKO

Trump, who has suggested that the drone incursion may have been the result of a mistake, last week lifted sanctions on Belarus's national airline Belavia, allowing it to service and buy components for its fleet, which includes Boeing aircraft.

He did so after Lukashenko - who regularly talks to Russian President Vladimir Putin and was given a friendly hand-signed letter from Trump by Coale - agreed to free 52 prisoners, including journalists and political opponents.

Belarusian Defence Minister Viktor Khrenikov personally greeted the two U.S. officers, who shook his hand and, speaking in Russian, thanked him for inviting them.

"We will show whatever is of interest for you. Whatever you want. You can go there and see, talk to people," the minister told the Americans, who declined to speak to reporters afterwards.

Their attendance was presented by the Belarusian defence ministry as a surprise.

"Who would have thought how the morning of another day of the Zapad-2025 exercise would begin?" it said in a statement, noting their presence among representatives from 23 countries including fellow NATO member states Turkey and Hungary as well as China, Ethiopia and Indonesia.

The last time the Zapad ("West") drills were held, in 2021, a U.S. military official based in Ukraine travelled to Belarus to watch them.

(Reporting by Reuters in Belarus; Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Kevin Liffey)