Lukashenko explains details of forthcoming Belarusian-Russian army exercise Zapad 2025
20:14, 10 April
Photo: BELTA
Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko revealed details of the forthcoming Belarusian-Russian army exercise Zapad 2025 [West 2025] in an interview with the Interstate TV and Radio Company Mir, BelTA has learned.
- Share on Facebook
- Share on VK
- Share on Twitter
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “I will defend my nation. And I know how it was in 1941: we tried to placate Germans all the time. We tried to curry their favor by any means. Their aircraft flew into our space. They acted with impudence. While we gathered all the aircraft from the airports into one and started fixing something. We didn’t even deploy the armies. We were busy placating them. And what happened? Putin says the right thing: and after that they lied, deceived, and so on. Enough. We should always be ready.”
The president said that he had discussed the focus of the forthcoming Belarusian-Russian army exercise Zapad 2025 with Vladimir Putin not so long before. The exercise will take place in mid-September.
“I’ve signed the directive concerning this exercise because it is necessary to organize it here and so on. Military training areas have been chosen. Although a war is in progress, [Russia’s] special military operation is in progress, President Putin and I have agreed that we will put the war aside, that we have to look into the future and see other directions and possible theaters of war, god forbid. This is why we will conduct this exercise. Belarus should play the main role due to certain reasons. Because a lot of troops of the Russian Federation are busy. Time has come for us to demonstrate that we know how to do a lot. Russian army units will also be present here. This is why we will do everything to protect our common Fatherland,” the Belarusian leader stated.
“It is common for us and stretches from Brest to Vladivostok. But in this Fatherland we have absolutely independent states: sovereign Belarus and the Russian Federation. And there are lands with decent self-dependence. Such as Ufa lands and Kazan lands – Tatarstan and Bashkortostan,” the head of state added.
Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled how Belarus’ western neighbors – Poland and the Baltic states – inflate tensions. The situation at the south, at the border with Ukraine is aggravated as well.
“We shouldn’t just bear it in mind. We take it into account. This is why we organize military exercises, which are designed to bolster our defensive ability in connection with this behavior of our Western neighbors,” the president said.
