Lukashenka about Zapad-2017: We are not going to attack anyone


The joint Belarusian-Russian war game Zapad-2017 is not aimed at attacking anyone, president Alyaksandr Lukashenka said at Tuesday’s meeting with security and military officials.

According to him, foreign observers invited to the military exrcise will see it for themselves.

“We should stop making excuses saying that the exercise is defensive and so on! We have an army, a joint army group of Belarus and Russia in the western direction. And if it exists (and we have never concealed the fact), it should be trained – just in case,” he stressed.

“We are not going to attack anyone.  What will the exercise look like? We have invited practically everybody who wanted. Well, let them come and see,” Lukashenka said.

The Belarusian side is reported to have invited observers from seven countries (Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, and Norway), representatives of the military-diplomatic corps accredited in the Belarusian Defense Ministry, as well as representatives of the international organizations (the UN, OSCE, NATO, CIS, CSTO, ICRC) to monitor the event.

In March, Lukashenka expressed readiness to invite NATO observers after the openness and transparency of Zapad-2017 had been questioned by world opinion.

belsat.eu

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