Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 12, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleRussia and Belarus will hold joint military exercises in September to test their military capabilities and ensure security, amid concerns from Ukraine and NATO.
MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Russian and Belarusian armies are set to hold joint strategic exercises in Belarus from September 12-16, the Belarusian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.
The aim of the drills is to test the capabilities of Russia and Belarus and "ensure the military security of the Union State and their readiness to repel possible aggression," the ministry cited Major General Valery Revenko as saying.
The Union State is a borderless union and alliance between the two former Soviet republics and neighbours.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned earlier this year, without giving details or citing evidence, that Russia was "preparing something" in Belarus this summer under the guise of routine military exercises.
In an interview with Time Magazine last week, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he had decided to move the location of the joint military drills away from Belarus' western borders with European Union countries, citing security concerns raised in Poland and the Baltic nations.
Lukashenko called the idea that Belarus would utilise the drills to attack the three Baltic countries and Poland "complete nonsense."
Revenko, the Major General, said the Belarusian-Russian drills were "being used as a pretext for ongoing militarisation" in neighbouring NATO countries, citing upcoming joint NATO drills in Poland involving at least 34,000 troops.
Belarus, Russia's closest ally, has seen its relations with western neighbours and Ukraine deteriorate over the last few years after Moscow used Belarusian territory as a staging ground for an assault on Kyiv it launched in February 2022.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy PapachristouEditing by Andrew Osborn)
Military security refers to the measures taken by a state to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity against external threats and aggression.
A joint military exercise is a training operation conducted by two or more military forces to enhance interoperability and readiness for potential conflicts.
NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a military alliance formed for mutual defense and security among member countries, primarily in Europe and North America.
Military aggression is the use of armed forces by one nation against another, often characterized by invasion or occupation, without justification or provocation.
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