Zapad 2017 EN

The public in Lithuania is too nervous about Zapad 2017, a large-scale military exercise that has started in Russia and Belarus, Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis said on Thursday morning.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė says that the country is better prepared than it has ever been before for the Zapad large-scale military drills that Russia and Belarus are holding close to its borders.

Six Lithuanian parliamentarians have not been issued visas to travel to Belarus for an opposition event in Minsk on Monday.

The goal of Zapad 2017, a large-scale military exercise that Russia and Belarus will hold later this month, is "to frighten us", Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė, who will be visiting the United States during the drills, said on Friday.

Lithuania's security situation and preparedness ahead of next week's Zapad 2017 military exercise in Russia and Belarus is much better than in 2013, the heads of the parliament's Committee on National Security and Defense said on Wednesday after being updated on the security situation in the region.

The Lithuanian parliament's National Security and Defense Committee will Wednesday hear information about the regional security information from the State Security Department and the Second Investigations Department ahead of the Russian-Belarusian Zapad 2017 exercise due to kick off next week.

The governmental Extreme Situations Commission decided after a meeting at the Interior Ministry on Tuesday that institutions in charge of civil safety would work under a usual regime during the upcoming Russian-Belarusian Zapad 2017 training.

NATO fighter-jets patrolling Baltic airspace were scrambled seven times last week to intercept Russian military aircraft in international airspace over the Baltic Sea, the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

The US Army's commander in Europe on Friday called on Russia to invite media representatives to observe next month's military exercise Zapad (West), saying that there is not much ground for trusting the numbers given by Moscow about the scale of the drills.

Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, the US Army commander in Europe, is coming to Lithuania on Thursday to discuss the security situation in the region.

Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, the US Army commander in Europe, will start a two-day visit to Lithuania on Thursday.

The United States is taking over the Baltic air policing mission two weeks ahead of Zapad 2017 (West), a large-scale military exercise to be held jointly by Russia and Belarus.

The United States has boosted the Baltic air policing mission as Russia and Belarus prepare to hold their joint large-scale military exercise Zapad (West) next month.

Donald Trump only reiterated Washington's position on protecting the Baltic region, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius said on Tuesday, commenting on the US president's words that the United States is "very protective" of the Baltics.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė said on Thursday that she expects that observers will be able to see if Russia will take its troops out of Belarus after next month's Zapad military exercise is over, but she did not comment on whether there are indications that Russian military personnel may ...

Members of the Lithuanian Cabinet agreed on Thursday to keep up the pressure on Belarus over the safety of the Astravyets nuclear power plant, but at the same time to seek to develop good economic relations with the neighboring country, an advisor to Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said.

Kurt Volker, the US special representative for Ukraine, says that he has hope that a fresh ceasefire between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces can be reached in eastern Ukraine for the back-to-school season.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis and Interior Minister Eimutis Misiūnas on Tuesday discussed co-operation between their ministries during the Zapad (West) military exercise to be held jointly by Russia and Belarus in September.