Russian and Belarusian military exercises next month to involve Oreshnik hypersonic missile

(Reuters) -Joint exercises to be held by the Russian and Belarusian armies next month will include drills on the planned use of nuclear weapons and the Russian-made, intermediate-range hypersonic Oreshnik missile, Belarus' defence minister said on Wednesday.

The comments by Viktor Khrenin come just two days before U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Alaska to discuss a possible deal to end the full-scale war in Ukraine, which Moscow launched in part from Belarusian territory in February 2022.

Khrenin told journalists in Minsk that the Belarusians would work with their Russian counterparts on how to use the Oreshnik, as well as nuclear weapons, during the military exercises, to be held in Belarus from September 12-16.

"This is an important element of our strategic deterrence. As the head of state demands, we must be prepared for anything," Khrenin was quoted as saying by Belta, a Belarusian state news agency.

"We see the situation on our western and northern borders and cannot calmly watch the militarisation and military activity. We demonstrate our openness and peacefulness, but we must always keep our powder dry."

Belarus borders Poland, Lithuania and Latvia - all NATO members - to the west and north, while in the south it borders Ukraine.

Putin said this month that the Oreshnik (Hazel Tree) had gone into serial production and had been delivered to the armed forces. Moscow first used the weapon against Ukraine last November, targeting the city of Dnipro.

The Kremlin said last week it would no longer place any limits on where it deploys intermediate-range missiles that can carry nuclear warheads, after lifting a moratorium on deployment of such weapons in what it cast as a forced response to moves by the West.

The scheduled drills, called "Zapad-2025" (West-2025), have raised security concerns in neighbouring Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. President Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed the idea that Minsk would utilise the exercises to attack its neighbours as "complete nonsense."

Belarusian defence officials have pointed to upcoming joint NATO drills in Poland, involving at least 34,000 troops, as evidence of growing militarisation along Belarus' borders.

"We need to watch them very closely (which is what we will be doing) and respond accordingly," Khrenin said on Wednesday, referring to the NATO drills.

"If they show any aggression toward the Republic of Belarus, we have the means to respond."

(Reporting by Lucy PapachristouEditing by Gareth Jones)