MINSK, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday reiterated that the upcoming Belarusian-Russian joint military drills West-2017 are defensive.
"We are not going to attack anyone. We have invited almost everyone who is interested in our exercise. Let them come and see," the press service of the head of state quoted Lukashenko as saying.
"It's time for us to stop explaining ourselves saying that the exercise is defensive. We have an army, a Belarusian-Russian joint force in the western direction. And since its existence, we have never hidden the fact from anyone. We will train it. Just in case," Lukashenko said.
The joint military exercise will be held on Sept. 14-20 at six testing ranges in Russia and Belarus, involving about 12,700 troops and 680 combat units.
In late August, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin told a news briefing that "the drills will involve some 7,200 Belarusian troops and about 5,500 Russian servicemen."
The purpose of the exercises is to test the preparedness of the joint forces for ensuring the security of the two countries and their capacity to repel terrorist attacks or an aggression, Fomin said.
He added that the number of troops, combat vehicles and other armaments, as well as the number of planned sorties, will not exceed the level that is subject to mandatory monitoring required by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in its 2011 Vienna Document.
Notifications about the drills have been sent to all OSCE members and observers have been invited to the exercises, Fomin said.
