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NATO must be prepared for various types of threats from Russia, including this year’s military exercises “Zapad-2025.”
This was stated by Polish President Andrzej Duda during a meeting of Poland’s National Security Council, according to a Ukrinform correspondent.
According to the Polish head of state, the threat posed by Russia should be a key topic at the NATO summit and will repeatedly appear on the agenda.
“It’s no secret that the imperial policy of Russia is a threat, at least to the European part of NATO. In this context, the upcoming ‘Zapad-2025’ exercises announced by Russia are an important issue. We must remember that the last such drills were held four years ago — in the fall of 2021 — and their consequence was the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the stationing of some Russian forces in our part of Europe, closer to Poland’s borders… Therefore, I believe this issue must be highlighted and clearly communicated to our NATO allies, as it will require intensified attention and an additional demonstration of readiness from the Alliance,” Duda emphasized.
He added that Poland, together with its NATO allies, will develop an appropriate action plan for the period of the “Zapad-2025” exercises.
As reported, Poland’s Ministry of Defense earlier stated that Warsaw would respond appropriately to the planned Russian-Belarusian military maneuvers “Zapad-2025” scheduled for September.
The Russia-Belarus “Zapad” exercises have been conducted every four years since 2009. The last “Zapad-2021” drills were the largest maneuvers on the western front since the collapse of the Soviet Union, involving more than 200,000 troops. It was later revealed that these exercises were part of the preparation for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In a recent report, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted that Russia and Belarus had scaled down the scope of the joint “Zapad-2025” exercises and moved the main maneuvers away from the western borders of Belarus — likely to create the impression of cooperation and divert attention from Russia’s limited military capabilities outside of Ukraine.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, stated that prior to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia had deployed its troops in Belarus, and the upcoming “Zapad-2025” Russian-Belarusian drills could serve as cover for forming a new strike group.
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