The total number of troops and military
equipment does not exceed the level subject to mandatory monitoring of certain
military activities, as it is stipulated by the 2011 Vienna Convention.
MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. West-2017 joint military drills between Russia and Belarus are purely defensive, while the actual number of troops and military equipment involved is less than claims made by the foreign media, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
"The
West-2017 combined military exercises involving the Russian and Belarusian
armed forces are purely defensive," the statement reads.
"The
hype over the drills is artificial and aimed at justifying the spending on
NATO’s military build-up on Poland and the Baltic states in the eyes of the
western audience," the statement adds.
"We
would like to point out that it is these actions that raise military tensions
in Europe - a fact that the western ‘soldiers of the pen and mic’ have been
complaining about recently," the ministry said.
Number of troops
The Russian
Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations which said that the number of the
troops expected to participate in the military exercises had been deliberately
understated, while the drills’ transparency was not ensured.
"The
total number of troops and military equipment does not exceed the level
subjected to mandatory monitoring of certain military activities, as it is
stipulated by the 2011 Vienna document," the Russian Foreign Ministry
added. According to the statement, "the drills, scheduled to take place on
September 14-20, will involve up to 12,700 troops [7,200 Belarusian and 5,500
Russian, including 3,000 troops in Belarus], as well as around 70 planes and
helicopters, up to 680 pieces of military equipment, including about 250 tanks,
around 200 cannons, multiple launch rocket systems and mortars, and up to ten
ships."
"It is
far less that the claims being made by the media in connection with the
upcoming military exercises," the statement says.
At the same
time, the Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that Belarus, acting on its own
initiative, had invited representatives of the United Nations, Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), NATO, Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as
well as diplomats and military observers from Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,
Ukraine, Estonia, Sweden and Norway, to monitor the drills. Moreover, Belarus
held a briefing on the sidelines of the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation.
"We welcome the steps taken by Belarus," the Russian Foreign Ministry
noted.
Russian
military experts, in turn, held a briefing dedicated to the drills in NATO
headquarters on July 13. Until the end of August, the Russian Defense Ministry
planned to organize another briefing for foreign diplomats and military experts
accredited in Russia.
The drills
West-2017
military drills, scheduled to take place at six training ranges in Russia and
Belarus on September 14-20, will involve around 12,700 troops. The number of
troops expected to participate in the drills is less than that stipulated by
the 2011 Vienna document (13,000). This is the reason why it is not mandatory
to invite foreign observers to monitor the military exercises.
However, a
number of western countries have been voicing their concern over the upcoming
drills.
Source: ITAR-TASS 26-08-2017
