Joint military maneuvers of the Russian and Belarusian armies in September will include exercises using nuclear weapons and the Russian-made Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic missile, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said, quoted by Reuters, BTA reports.
Khrenin's comments come two days before a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska, where the two will discuss a possible agreement to end the full-scale war in Ukraine. Moscow started the conflict partly from Belarusian territory in February 2022.
Khrenin specified that the military maneuvers in Belarus from September 12 to 16 will include the use of the Oreshnik hypersonic missile and nuclear weapons. “This is an important element of our strategic deterrence. As the head of state wants, we must be ready for anything”, he said, quoted by the Belarusian news agency BelTA.
Belarusian authorities emphasize that the country remains ready to take action if necessary and demonstrates openness and peace-lovingness, while observing the militarization along its western and northern borders with NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, as well as the southern border with Ukraine.
This month, Vladimir Putin announced the serial production of “Oreshnik“, with some of the missiles already delivered to the Russian armed forces. Moscow used them for the first time in November last year against the city of Dnieper in Ukraine. Earlier, the Kremlin said that it would no longer place restrictions on the deployment of medium-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, after the moratorium, which was set in response to Western actions, was lifted.
The joint The West 2025 exercises have raised concerns in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has described claims that the exercises could be used to attack its neighbours as "complete nonsense".
The Belarusian military has pointed to the upcoming NATO exercises in Poland, involving more than 34,000 troops, as evidence of the growing militarization around Belarus. "We must watch them carefully and react accordingly. If they show aggression, we have the means to respond," Khrenin concluded.