Russian Foreign Ministry on military exercises with Belarus: Moscow open, transparent, ready to answer all questions

MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) - Russia conducts joint military exercises with Belarus in a comprehensible and transparent manner and is ready to answer any questions from the West, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

"Despite the absurdity of accusations against us, we never tried to avoid explaining the essence of measures to strengthen the joint defense of the Union State. I'll say it again: we have nothing to hide, we act openly, act in a way comprehensible to foreign partners, and transparently, we are ready to answer questions," Zakharova said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

She went on to describe the questions raised by the West about the Russian-Belarusian military exercise as absurd, noting that the maneuver "is fully in line with the declared plan."

In this regard, Moscow is calling on its partners to stop fanning hysteria around the exercise, Zakharova said.

"It's not the Russian and Belarusian defense capability checks, but the provocative moves of the West itself in terms of building up NATO forces on the Union State's border and pouring weapons into Kyiv that pose a real threat to security in the region," she said.

(Our editorial staff can be reached at eng.editors@interfax.ru