MOSCOW, 18 February (BelTA) – The leaders of Belarus and Russia highly assessed the Allied Resolve 2022 exercise, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the media following a meeting with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in Moscow on 18 February, BelTA has learned.
"We jointly praised the Allied Resolve 2022 exercises, the active phase of which will last in Belarus until 20 February. I must state that the exercise is purely defensive in nature and does not threaten anyone," Vladimir Putin said.
The joint exercise Allied Resolve 2022 is the second phase of the inspection to test the Union State forces held from 10 to 20 February. The exercise is drilling suppression and repulse of external aggression as well as countering terrorism and defending the interests of the Union State.
The exercise is taking place at the Gozhsky, Obuz-Lesnovsky, Brestsky and Osipovichsky training grounds, and also some other areas.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko are set to take part in the events of military cooperation on 19 February. “We will talk over the regional situation and assess our military cooperation. Military exercises are now in an active phase. Tomorrow we will oversee one of these military cooperation events,” Vladimir Putin said as he met with his Belarusian counterpart in Moscow.
On 17 February, Aleksandr Lukashenko said that he plans to take part in military events together with his Russian counterpart on Saturday. After getting familiar with the course of the Belarusian-Russian exercise Allied Resolve 2022 at the Osipovichsky training ground, the head of state told the media: “Yesterday at 13h00, we had a phone conversation with President Putin, discussed our schedule for Friday-Saturday, because our exercise will still be in progress on Saturday. The Russian side will inform you what site we will visit to review the exercise," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The Russian Ministry of Defense earlier reported that on 19 February Vladimir Putin would oversee strategic deterrence force exercises with ballistic and cruise missile launches. The ministry specified that the exercise was planned to test the readiness of military command authorities, combat launch teams, crews of warships and strategic missile carriers, and also the reliability of strategic nuclear and non-nuclear weapons.
