By Joe Barnes

 

MINSK, BELARUS, 16 Sept. - (ANA) - Soldiers from the United States have watched Russian war games, in what Belarus described as a surprise appearance.

 

The Zapad exercise, which began on Friday, is a large-scale show of force aimed at the West by Moscow and its close ally Belarus. It involves drills across both countries and the Baltic and Barents seas.

 

An American presence at the event would signal a further easing of tensions between Washington and Minsk.

 

The Belarusian defence ministry published a video on Monday that showed two American servicemen as part of an international group of military observers at a training ground.

 

They were greeted by Viktor Khrenin, Belarus’s defence minister, and the two Americans appeared to respond in Russian while shaking hands with the minister.

 

Mr Khrenin said: “We will show whatever is of interest for you. Whatever you want. You can go there and see, talk to people.”

 

One of the soldiers observing the war games in Borisov was named as Lt Col Bryan Shoupe, according to photographs filed by the Reuters news agency.

 

The soldiers’ appearance was presented as being unexpected by Belarus’s defence ministry, which claimed 23 foreign militaries were represented at the wargames, including two other Nato allies, Hungary and Turkey.

 

“Who would have thought how the morning of another day of the ‘Zapad-2025’ exercise would begin,” the ministry wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

 

Reuters reported that the American servicemen declined to speak to reporters. The American government has yet to comment.

 

Under the Vienna Convention, governments are expected to allow international observers to attend military exercises to ensure transparency.

 

John Foreman, a former British defence attaché in Moscow, said: “This is a good thing. Belarus has stuck to its obligations under the Vienna Document (unlike Russia) in the interest of transparency.”

 

Belarus has largely been isolated by Western governments because of its role in Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

 

But numerous American officials, including Gen Keith Kellogg, have travelled to Minsk for talks with Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian dictator.

 

John Coale, a presidential representative of Donald Trump, visited the former Soviet state last week for talks over the release of 52 political prisoners, including journalists and opposition figures.

 

The US granted sanctions relief to Belarus’s national airline, Belavia, in return, allowing it to service and buy components for its fleet, which includes American-made Boeing aircraft.

 

Mr Trump is said to want to reopen the American embassy in Minsk as part of a wider strategy for cultivating ties with one of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies. Just last week, the US president sent Lukashenko a hand-written note via Mr Coale.

 

The Zapad war games are the first such build-up of Russian forces on Nato’s borders since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

 

Gen Carsten Breuer, head of the German military, predicted that 13,000 soldiers would take part in Belarus and a further 30,000 in Russia.

 

The exercise began after Nato aircraft intercepted at least four Russian drones, after around 19 entered Polish airspace.

 

Britain on Monday summoned the Russian ambassador in London for a dressing down over the incident.

 

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “As our continent once again faces the egregious expansion of Russia’s reckless behaviour, defence of Ukraine against Putin’s aggression is crucial to the security of the whole of Europe, including the UK.

 

“Russia should understand that its continued aggression only strengthens the unity between Nato allies and our determination to stand with Ukraine, and any further incursions will again be met with force.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/16 September 2025 - - -