BORISOV DISTRICT, 20 September (BelTA) – The presidents of Belarus and Russia decided in advance that they would attend the Zapad 2017 army exercise separately. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made the statement after observing progress of the Belarusian-Russian strategic army exercise Zapad 2017 on 20 September, BelTA has learned.
“We reached an agreement that since the main action will take place here [in Belarus] while a lot of action will take place in Leningrad Oblast, the president of Russia will keep an eye on the wargames in the north while I will do the same in the center,” said Alexander Lukashenko.
“I am grateful to our military and the Russian side for giving me an opportunity to observe the main phase in the center. Initially we intended to observe the exercise together but later on we came to understand that we should see more of the exercise so that people could see where the presidents work and how,” added Alexander Lukashenko.
