MINSK, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Russian airplanes arrived at military airfields of Belarus to participate in the Belarusian-Russian joint strategic military exercises West-2017, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
More than 40 airplanes from the two countries will be deployed on the territory of Belarus during the military exercises, the ministry said.
The Defense Ministry of Belarus once again confirmed the defensive nature of the upcoming drills and that its conduct does not pose any threat either to the European community as a whole or to neighboring countries in particular.
The joint military exercises will be held from Sept. 14 to Sept. 20. The drills will involve up to 12,700 troops, of which about 10,000 will be on the Belarusian territory.
