USA speak to the enemy while Russia increases the pressure with NATO with large military exercises

Donald Trump still reacted to the drones that invaded Poland, but it is not clear what he intends to do

At a time when NATO allies in Europe are feeling the pressure of Moscow, putting them on the edge in an atmosphere already frigid with the entry of Russian drones into the airspace of Poland, Russia and its main ally, Belarus, are performing massive military exercises even at the door of the covenant.

The exercises, called Zapad-2025, are taking place in training camps in Russia and Belarus, which borders Ukraine, as well as in the waters of Baltic and Barents.

A delegation of US military officers, as well as representatives of two other NATO members, Turkey and Hungary, observed the exercises, accompanied by Russian Deputy Minister Yunus-BEK Yevkurov.

Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Shoupe was one of two US officers who were seen meeting with Belarusian military officers in a video shared by Minsk. In the video, Shoupe can be heard to thank Belarussian officers in Russian for the invitation.

United States President Donald Trump initially reacted to raids of Russian drones in Poland with derision, asking, “What is going on with Russia that violates Poland’s airspace with drones?”

In yet another indication of the development of ties between Minsk and Washington DC, Belarus released 52 political prisoners after John Coale, a tall Trump administration official, met with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and handed a letter and gift of fist buttons with an image of the White House, offered by Trump and the first lady Trump.

In response to the prisoner’s liberation, a Trump administration official said the US would alleviate some sanctions on Belarus state airline, Belavia.

A few days after more than a dozen Russian drones penetrated Poland’s airspace, causing the NATO jets to pour and slaughter them, Romania said another drone crossed their borders over the weekend.

While US European allies have asked for a stronger Washington DC response to drone forays, Trump seems reluctant to further confront Kremlin. In an interview with Fox on Friday, Trump said his patience with Putin was “running out and running out quickly.”

When the exercises began in a huge complex north of Minsk, the Belarus Ministry of Defense stated that the NATO was panicking before Russian and Belarusian firepower.

“It’s a big mistake of NATO,” Valery Revenko, a high -ranking Belarusian general, told CNN in the training field, pointing out that Poland itself parked a large number of troops near the Belarus border during training.

“Where do you think there is more personal? Probably there. Why is 40,000 (the number of Polish soldiers highlighted for the region) are afraid of 6,800 [tropas russas e bielorrussas]? This is a good question. “

Modern combat tactics

The Belarusian military placed us on buses and took us into Borisovsky’s training facilities. The exercises started with a large crash, when several Russian fighters appeared at a low level, throwing bombs on simulated targets. Then the two armies bombarded the training area called “Polygon”, ending with a last massive attack.

Moscow has used these exercises to show their modernized nuclear abilities. Although the Russians say that less than 13,000 soldiers are participating in this year’s exercises – much less than in the past – the types of weapons used to worry European leaders. For months Russians have been equipping Belarus with tactical nuclear weapons, and recently announced that they had placed their new and powerful medium -range ballistic missiles there. This happens after Russia stated that it had placed tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus late last year.

Russian war ships fired Zircon hypersonic missiles in the northern Russian Sea, while Moscow Jacts flew over Northwest Russia and Belarus with ballistic missiles thrown from Air Khinzhal, which the Russians have already used in combat against Ukraine.

“We have been able to systematically plan issues related to the use of more powerful weapons of destruction in this exercise,” said Belarussian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin, about the firepower on display, which also demonstrated the change in Russian military tactics, which adapted to the realities of conflict in Ukraine. In addition to heavy tanks and artillery shots that caused large explosions and intense smoke in the training area, infantry units also advanced on motorcycles, quads or on foot, under the coverage of drones.

“Europeans are preventing progress. They refuse to recognize the fundamental origins of this crisis, thus blocking any way to address these same causes. However, Russia is still open and prepared for dialogue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

And although Russia says it is still prepared for dialogue, it has also shown that it has a devastating ability to continue to fight for a long time.

At the end of the training, dozens of Russian tanks and armored vehicles came out of their shelters, all with the Russian flag and equipped with cages and nets around their towers to protect against drone attacks – what the Russians call “modern combat tactics”.