US EditionUS military officers pay surprise visit to Belarus to observe war games with Russia: Reuters
- On Monday, September 15, 2025, two U.S. military officers attended joint Russian-Belarusian war games near Barysaw, Belarus, during the Zapad-2025 exercise.
- The Zapad-2025 drills began on the preceding Friday amid heightened NATO tensions following recent Russian drone incursions into Poland’s airspace.
- The exercises featured Russian and Belarusian forces including aircraft, tanks, artillery, and helicopter gunships simulating combat against Western forces, with Belarusian Defense Minister Khrenin inviting U.S. observers to inspect operations.
- Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated the drills are not aimed at any third country but focus on military cooperation between Russia and Belarus as strategic allies.
- The U.S. observation of the drills and recent diplomatic gestures, including prisoner releases and sanctions relief on Belarusian airline Belavia, indicate an apparent thaw in U.S.-Belarus relations amid ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
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Putin in uniform, U.S. observers, and Z-bloggers’ reactions Key takeaways from Russia and Belarus’s Zapad-2025 war games
From September 12–15, Russian and Belarusian forces conducted joint military exercises under the banner of Zapad-2025. The drills marked the first in the Zapad series since the fall of 2021, when Moscow used the exercises to begin massing troops along its western border — setting the stage for its invasion of Ukraine the following February. Officials from both countries said the exercises would simulate enemy attacks and responses to repel them.…
Russia and Belarus carried out a simulated nuclear attack during the joint military exercises "Zapad-2025", which this year was followed by delegations from several NATO countries, including the United States, writes The Moscow Times.
The Zapad military exercises take place every four years. The first since the sending of Russian soldiers to Ukraine, these exercises took place from Friday 12th to Tuesday 16th September, in a time of high tension with European countries and NATO. But Belarus received unexpected guests: American observers. Russia, on the other hand, played the map of the demonstration of force.
The maneuvers seek to coordinate troops to repel aggressions, with practices of ballistic missile launches and simulated air strikes.
While Minsk welcomes American military observers at Sapad, Lukashenko is receiving a high-ranking occupier in Minsk. Has Trump's charm offensive towards Belarus made any difference?
The Pentagon confirmed that the exercises were attended by American military personnel.
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