NYT: The arrival of observers from the United States at the Zapad-2025 exercise came as a surprise
The presence of American observers at the Zapad-2025 Russian-Belarusian military exercises was a notable event, The New York Times writes. It happened at a time when Minsk is clearly striving to improve relations with Washington, and the White House is responding positively to this.
Valerie Hopkins
Belarus invited the Americans at a time when its leader is trying to improve relations with the Trump administration, which is responding positively.
In the fourth year of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, their presence seemed incredible. But on Monday, two American military observers stood on an observation deck, watching as the Belarusian military conducted joint exercises with the Russian army, the same one that continues to strike Ukraine in defiance of President Trump's demands.
Belarus, which is trying to improve relations with the United States, but remains dependent on Russia and assists it in conducting military operations, seemed to revel in the presence of Americans at the Zapad-2025 military exercises.
The Belarusian military command presented the visit of the Americans, which took place a few days after the start of the maneuvers, as a pleasant surprise, and invited them to watch whatever they wanted. "Who would have thought how the morning of the next day of the Zapad-2025 exercise would begin," the Belarusian Ministry of Defense wrote on its Telegram channel.
After shaking hands with the American representatives, Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin told them: "We are not hiding anything."
"Everything that interests you, we'll show you what you want," Khrenin continued, after which he instructed his subordinate to provide the American delegation with "the best seats." The Americans watched the progress of military exercises in which the country resembling Belarus repelled an attack by a group of invaders in anticipation of help from a larger neighboring state.
A reporter from The New York Times, who was present at the exercises, contacted the American representatives, but they did not want to talk to him. The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that one of the guests is the defense attache at the U.S. Embassy in Belarus, Lieutenant Colonel Brian Patrick Shoop. Shortly after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, the embassy moved to neighboring Lithuania.
The appearance of the Americans was a very remarkable turn of events. These exercises, held every four years, were originally conceived in order to get an idea of how Russia would defend itself against an invasion by a member of NATO, an alliance of which the United States is the strongest member. <…>
Russia's full-scale military operation in Ukraine began in February 2022, several months after the Zapad-2021 exercises. Belarus allowed the Kremlin to use Belarusian training centers after a large-scale mobilization campaign in Russia in September 2022. Minsk also sells military equipment to Russia.
But on Monday, Belarus tried to appear as a peacemaker.
"It's hard to imagine the kind of openness that we show and ensure during the exercises," Defense Minister Khrenin later said. Belarus, he added, is interested "in reducing tensions in the Eastern European region and is taking real practical steps to achieve this."
Russia has a more bellicose message for NATO, which was also represented at the Zapad exercises by officials from Turkey and Hungary. The Kremlin has long believed that it is at war with NATO because the alliance provides direct and indirect assistance to Ukraine.
"NATO is de facto involved in this war," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. He added: "It is absolutely safe to say that the alliance is at war with Russia."
This is not the first time that American observers have been invited to the Zapad exercises. The last time they attended them was in 2017, said Artyom Shraibman, a Belarusian political analyst living in exile at the Carnegie Berlin Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. But at that time, the head of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, had much warmer relations with Washington and the European Union.
The fact that Russia's closest ally invited American observers this year came as a surprise, "given the general regional crisis and armed conflict, as well as the fact that Belarus is an ally of Russia," Schreibman said.
Last year, Lukashenko tried to reconcile with Washington. The issue of the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine is on the agenda of the current discussions between Belarus and the United States.
Last week, Trump's deputy special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, John Cole, met with Lukashenko, handing him a letter from the president and expressing hope for the reopening of the embassy in Minsk.
Minsk reported that military personnel from 23 countries, including representatives of Russia's traditional allies such as China, Cuba and Serbia, observed the exercises.
According to the Ministry of Defense, about 6,000 Belarusian military personnel took part in the maneuvers. It also reported the participation of about a thousand troops from Russia, although independent analysts believe that there were fewer of them. In previous years, when Russia was not fighting, it sent 20-30 times more soldiers to these exercises, said Konrad Muzyka, an independent military analyst from Warsaw who studies Russia and Belarus.
According to Muzyka, the openness that Belarus has tried to demonstrate is explained by Lukashenko's desire to remain a significant geopolitical player, although his country's economy and politics invariably remain dependent on Russia.
"Lukashenko wants to act as an intermediary between East and West,— Muzyka said. "He wants to be seen as the most important person in this part of Europe who will help bury the hatchet in Ukraine."
Valerie Hopkins covers the armed conflict in Ukraine and writes about how it is changing Russia, Ukraine, Europe and the United States. She lives and works in Moscow.
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