MINSK, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Belarusian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday it had invited observers from seven countries to the West-2017 Belarusian-Russian joint military exercise.
Military observers from Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden and Norway had been invited to monitor the exercise, said the statement.
Representatives of international organizations, such as the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the International Committee of the Red Cross, have also been invited to monitor the drills, it added.
The joint military exercise will be held on September 14-20 and such exercises are held biennially. The drills will involve up to 12,700 troops, of which about 3,000 from the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
