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Military drills

Union State military drills’ scaledown move towards de-escalation — diplomat

Maria Zakharova noted that Moscow and Minsk also moved the majority of the drills from the western border firing ranges of Belarus deep into the territory of the republic

MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. The decision to size down the Russian-Belarusian drills dubbed Zapad-2025 (or West-2025) speaks to the readiness of the Union State to carry out a dialogue and de-escalate tensions in the region, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

"Russia and Belarus recently decided to reduce the scale of the exercises by almost half compared to the initially planned participation of 13,000 military personnel. [They also] moved the majority of the drills from the western border firing ranges of Belarus deep into the territory of the republic," Zakharova stated at a news briefing.

"This decision indicates the willingness of our countries to engage in dialogue and reduce tensions in the region," she added.

Tags

Foreign policy Belarus Military drills Maria Zakharova

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