Nato says no 'immediate military threat' to alliance from Russian drills

BRUSSELS: Nato said on Friday it did not see an immediate military threat as Russia and Belarus kicked off major military drills on the alliance's eastern border.
'We call on Russia and Belarus to act in a predictable and transparent manner in line with their international commitments', said a Nato official. 'We do not see any immediate military threat against any Nato ally'.
Russia and Belarus began a major joint military exercise on Nato's doorstep on Friday at a time of heightened tension with the Western alliance, two days after Poland shot down Russian drones that crossed into its airspace.
The 'Zapad-2025' exercise, a show of force by Russia and its close ally Belarus, is taking place at training grounds in both countries, including close to the Polish border.
It was scheduled well before the drone incident, which marked the first known occasion that a Nato member had fired against incoming Russian targets in the course of the three-and-a-half-year war.
Russia's defence ministry said that in the first phase of the exercise, troops would simulate repelling an attack against Russia and Belarus, whose alliance is known as the Union State. The second stage will focus on 'restoring the territorial integrity of the Union State and crushing the enemy, including with the participation of a coalition group of forces from friendly states', the ministry said.
Belarus borders three Nato members — Poland, Lithuania and Latvia — to its west and Ukraine to its south.
The Kremlin said on Friday that European concerns about the exercises were an emotional response based on hostility towards Russia. It has declined to comment on this week's drone incident, which was seen in the West as a wake-up call for Nato and a test of its responses. Western countries called the drone episode a deliberate provocation by Russia, which Moscow denied. Russia's Defence Ministry said its drones had carried out an attack in western Ukraine at the time, but it had not planned to hit any targets in Poland. US President Donald Trump said the Russian drone incursion could have been a mistake. 'I'm not happy about anything to do with the whole situation, but hopefully that's going to come to an end', he told reporters on Thursday.
Even before the incident, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had described the upcoming 'Zapad' manoeuvres as 'very aggressive' and announced that Poland would close its border with Belarus at midnight on Thursday.
Deputy Polish Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk said Poland had been preparing for many months and was holding its own exercises, codenamed 'Iron Defender'.
'There are about 30,000 soldiers in the Iron Defender exercise and about 5,000 on the border' with Belarus, Tomczyk said in response to Reuters' questions. — Reuters