Germany does not expect Russia to launch an attack on NATO territory under the guise of its joint military drills with Belarus scheduled for September 12–16, the country’s top defense chief said Monday.

General Carsten Breuer, head of Germany’s armed forces, told reporters in Berlin that the “Zapad 2025” exercise in western Russia and Belarus has raised concerns among neighboring members of the Western military alliance, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.

“We have no indication whatsoever that an attack is being prepared under the cover of the exercise. However, we will remain vigilant—not only the German armed forces but NATO as a whole,” Breuer said.

Ukraine, which continues to press for greater Western military support against Russia’s invasion, issued a sharp warning to Minsk. Kyiv’s Foreign Ministry recalled that Russia massed troops along Ukraine’s borders in 2021–22 under the pretext of the previous “Zapad 2021” drills, cautioning Belarus against “reckless provocations.”

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has firmly denied speculation that the drills are being used as cover for an attack on a neighboring state.

According to Belarus’s defense minister, Zapad 2025 will include nuclear readiness exercises and tests involving Russian-made Oreshnik hypersonic missiles.

Breuer noted the timing of Zapad partly overlaps with Germany’s own “Quadriga” exercise, conducted with 13 allies and involving more than 8,000 troops, 30 aircraft, 40 vessels in the Baltic Sea, and some 1,800 vehicles. The drills, running through September 12, simulate large-scale deployments of forces and equipment by land, sea, and air to Lithuania, a small Baltic state bordering Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave.

“We seek deterrence, not escalation. We are training exclusively for defensive purposes,” Breuer said, adding that Moscow uses Zapad “to fuel insecurity” among its neighbors. He estimated Russia would deploy 13,000 troops in Belarus and another 30,000 in Russia during the exercise.