Poland to close Belarus border amid Russian-Belarusian military drills
Poland will shut its border with Belarus at midnight on Thursday due to the large-scale Zapad-2025 military exercises taking place in Belarus, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Tuesday.
The joint Russian-Belarusian drills, which begin Friday, are set to take place near NATO’s eastern frontier and include scenarios involving nuclear weapons and Russia’s new intermediate-range hypersonic Oreshnik missile, according to Belarusian defense officials, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
“These maneuvers, very aggressive from a military doctrine perspective, will take place right on our border,” Tusk told a government meeting. “For reasons of national security, we will close the border with Belarus, including railway crossings, starting Thursday at midnight.”
Poland has already shut down most of its crossings with Belarus since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, leaving just two operational. Relations have further deteriorated in recent days after Belarusian media reported the arrest of a Polish national accused of espionage linked to the Zapad drills.
The exercises have sparked concern in NATO members Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia, which view the war games as a potential threat to regional security. NATO forces are expected to stage simultaneous exercises on their side of the border.
Neither the Belarusian nor Russian embassies in Warsaw immediately responded to requests for comment.
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