MOSCOW. Sept 14 (Interfax-AVN) - The Zapad 2017 (West 2017) joint strategic exercises of the Armed Forces of the Russia-Belarus Union State have been launched in these two countries, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
"The Zapad 2017 joint strategic exercises are being supervised by the General Staff chiefs of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and Belarus and come as a final stage of joint training of the two states' Armed Forces," the ministry said in a report shared with Interfax-AVN.
The maneuvers "are of a purely defensive nature and are not directed against any states or groups of countries," it said.