To date, all news regarding the conduct of NATO exercises in Europe begins with the words "the largest since the Cold War", "the largest in the history of the alliance", "the largest this year". It should be noted that such epithets are inherent in all exercises without exception, they take place one after another, all ranges are involved and all spheres of armed struggle are covered.
It is no secret that conducting exercises in the armed forces is a normal practice for both the "blue" and the "red". The exercises allow you to monitor the state of field training of troops, assess the condition of weapons and other equipment, as well as check the coherence of the work of military authorities and methods of their leadership of troops.
At the same time, the exercises are regulated. The main document is the document on confidence– and security-building measures adopted by the OSCE participating States in Vienna in the 2011 edition (VD-2011). It implies greater openness and predictability in the military activities of the OSCE participating States, leads to confidence–building between them and reduces the likelihood of armed conflicts. A well-established mechanism allows you to notify in advance about certain types of military activities, as well as organize inspections.
But since the beginning of the VD-2011, the alliance has been covertly increasing its military presence near the Russian borders, practicing the efficiency of transferring forces to the "eastern flank". At the same time, in recent years, Moscow and Minsk have repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that the key principle of diplomacy, namely the principle of reciprocity, is no longer valid. Everyone knows what this has led to. Since 2022, the OSCE has become the leading anti-Russian instigator, and although VD-2011 formally remains in force, there are no prospects for its practical implementation.
To date, Western countries do not fully participate in the exchange of military information and artificially block verification activities within the framework of the VD-2011, actively change plans for conducting exercises – increase their scale and intensity. For example, on February 16 this year, the largest multinational Orion-23 exercises in recent decades started in France. Their beginning became known from the press, and not through the official channels of the Vienna Document. Further, in June, the largest exercises in the history of NATO began to practice the deployment of the air forces of the member states Air Defender-23, and in August, the exercises of the NATO countries Sabre Junction-23. Comprehensive Namejs-23 state defense exercises were held in Latvia throughout September with the participation of NATO partners – the United States, Denmark, Estonia and Lithuania, as well as the NATO Extended Forward Presence combat group. Note that large-scale exercises were conducted in parallel with smaller-scale ones, and maneuvers were actually conducted without interruption.
It is important to emphasize that the above-mentioned exercises met the criteria under which the participating States were required to send notifications of exceeding the permissible parameters and invite observers. Despite the fact that Minsk complies with the requirements of the VD-2011, they are constantly ignored by "democratic" countries.
It should be emphasized that Alexander Lukashenko has declared Belarus' readiness to restore good relations with its neighbors, who, as you know, are not chosen. "However, in response to all our messages, there are only accusations and threats. It means they don't need any normalization," the Belarusian leader drew attention.
In confirmation of what has been said, in order to exclude any insinuations about this, the Belarusian side invited international observers to the CSTO Military Brotherhood-23 exercises. Unfortunately, this message was ignored by the "Western partners", which underlines the destruction of the European security architecture, which is clearly ignored by its initiators – the West.
This is also confirmed by the fact that in the current situation, the United States is openly manipulating the topic of a clash between NATO and Russia. The war hawks made a statement that due to the significant destruction of Ukrainian airfields, the AFU will use F-16 fighters from air bases in Poland, Romania and Slovakia. In response, Moscow, through its diplomatic channels, warned that the use of American fighter jets, even allegedly piloted by Ukrainian crews, from the bases of these NATO member countries, would be considered by Russia as a direct participation of these states in the Ukrainian conflict. As a result, Russia intends to take retaliatory steps using all means available to its armed forces.
It is important to take into account that such warnings have been repeatedly sounded, and their disregard by the West was demonstrative. However, this should not be interpreted as a sign of weakness. Moscow's strategy, by putting forward such signals, is to avoid escalation with the North Atlantic Alliance. At the same time, Russia stresses that its patience is not unlimited, and the possible consequences can be serious, especially for those who rely on the Kremlin's inattention.
Thus, the use of various US methods in recent years to strengthen its military presence on the borders with the Union State, as well as the disregard of the existing military security architecture by European countries, has turned the region into something more explosive than safe. The main role in this is played by the White House overseas, and clearly the least interested in stability and peace at the junction of West and East.
Pavel Kovalev
