NATO: There is no threat to North Atlantic bloc countries in view of Belarus-Russia military exercise West 2017

14 июля 2017

NATO does not see any threat to the North Atlantic bloc countries in view of the upcoming Belarus-Russia military exercise West 2017, as announced by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg following a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council at the ambassadorial level in Brussels.

The West 2017 exercise will be held on September 14-20 in Belarus’ territory. As announced yesterday by the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, the country is proactively sending out invitations to representatives of foreign countries and international organizations to monitor the maneuvers. Besides, the OSCE member states will receive all necessary information in accordance with international obligations no later than 42 days before exercise launch.

At Wednesday’s OSCE forum in Vienna, Belarus presented detailed materials on the idea and scenario of the exercise, its main goals and tasks, venues and the forces and means to be involved, stressing that the West 2017 maneuvers are of an exclusively defensive nature and are aimed at enhancing the Union State’s military security.