Zelenskyy: Belarus may move exercises from Russia deep into the country so as not to provoke Ukraine
According to the Foreign Intelligence Service, the joint exercises of Russia and Belarus "West-2025" may take place deep inside the latter's territory so as not to provoke Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this during a briefing, Suspilne reports.
The Head of State commented on the theoretical threat of a Russian offensive on Zhytomyr, Volhynia and Chernihiv regions under the guise of exercises in Belarus.
"I think Lukashenko himself is afraid that we in Ukraine will consider the presence of the [Russian] contingent at the exercises to be preparation for offensive actions. He understands after our corresponding steps in the Kursk direction, if we feel threatened, what we are capable of. And I think that he will be an influential factor in whether it is possible to start something from the Belarusian side during the exercises," the president noted.
Zelenskyy reported that, according to foreign intelligence data, the exercises may take place deep in the territory of Belarus, so as not to provoke Ukraine: "I don't know if this is true. I just had the last report a couple of days ago from the SVR, and there was such a signal. But all this needs to be checked."
The head of state recalled that "the risk of training "Russians" [in Belarus] is, unfortunately, already known to us historically." In 2022, Russian troops attacked Kyiv from the territory of this country.
On the eve, on May 28, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin announced that the country had decided to move the main maneuvers of the Zapad-2025 exercises deep into the territory of Belarus away from the western borders (i.e. with NATO countries). According to him, this is supposed to indicate Minsk's readiness for "dialogue and reducing tensions in the region."
- On February 5, President Zelenskyy said that in 2025, Russian dictator Putin would deploy his troops in Belarus to draw Poland and the Baltic states into the war.
- On April 4, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry reported that NATO is ready to respond to the Zapad-2025 military exercises of Russia and Belarus, if necessary.
- On April 28, the Polish Ministry of Defense promised an "adequate" response to joint exercises between Russia and Belarus. On April 29, Zelenskyy said that Russia was "preparing something" in Belarus this summer.
- On May 26, the head of foreign intelligence reported that Belarus keeps 2,000 military personnel near the border with Ukraine, and in 2022 there were up to 6,000.