Poland, NATO watch as Moscow, Minsk prep for war games
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
21.08.2017 15:06
Warsaw and NATO are "closely watching" preparations for Zapad’17, Russian and Belarusian war games which will take place near the Polish border in September, Poland’s deputy defence minister has said.
Russian soldiers. Photo: Vitaly V. Kuzmin/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Deputy Defence Minister Michał Dworczyk said there are concerns about whether all of Russia’s military equipment will be withdrawn from Belarus after the seven-day exercises end on 20 September.
According to official data, some 12,700 troops, including 3,000 from Russia, are to take part in the drills, but Dworczyk said there might be more.
“There is a lot of doubt and concern because of the Russian Federation’s hitherto activities, and it may turn out that not all forces and means will be withdrawn after the exercises,” he said.
He added that there may be more equipment and troops at the war games than what Moscow and Minsk have indicated.
But he said Poles should feel “perfectly safe”.
Polish President Andrzej Duda and NATO Secretary-General Jans Stoltenberg are set to discuss Zapad’17 war games in Warsaw on Thursday. (vb)
Source: IAR