U.S. military officers made an unannounced appearance at the Zapad-2025 joint exercises in Belarus on 15 September, where they were greeted by Belarus’s defence minister, Viktor Khrenin.
Belarus’s defence ministry characterised the visit as unexpected and said the Americans would be given broad access to observe the drills. Observers from two other NATO members, Türkiye and Hungary, were also present at the training ground near Barysaw.
Zapad-2025 began on 12 September across ranges in Belarus and western Russia and is scheduled to run until 16 September. Moscow showcased advanced systems during the wider exercise, including a reported Zircon hypersonic cruise-missile launch in the Barents Sea. The manoeuvres coincide with heightened regional tension; Poland has tightened border measures and cited security concerns linked to the drills.
The U.S. presence at a Belarusian training ground comes amid a limited thaw in relations. On 11 September, Belarus released 52 political prisoners following engagement with U.S. representatives. In parallel, Washington issued a general licence authorising certain transactions with state airline Belavia, easing some U.S. restrictions while leaving others in place. The measure allows specified aircraft operations, servicing and parts procurement subject to other export-control rules.
U.S. officials have described the waiver as narrow. The Commerce Department issued related guidance, and reporting has stressed that other U.S. export controls remain applicable. Belarus’s partial sanction relief does not affect European measures; EU and UK restrictions, including the EU’s ban on Belarusian carriers in its airspace and airports introduced in June 2021, continue to apply. Industry coverage notes that while U.S. easing may facilitate maintenance and parts sourcing, Belavia remains barred from EU skies.
The steps follow last month’s Alaska summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. The meeting ended without a Ukraine settlement; subsequent reporting indicated Mr Trump urged Kyiv to consider concessions as part of a deal, while retaining the option of further sanctions.
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Belarus’s role in Russia’s war remains a central factor in Western policymaking. In February 2022, Russian forces used Belarusian territory to open the northern front of the invasion, advancing towards Kyiv. Since then, Western authorities have tightened sanctions and export controls on Russia and Belarus, with repeated updates aimed at curbing circumvention and restricting access to dual-use goods.
Analysts and some politicians have cautioned that any relaxation for Belavia could create opportunities for sanctions evasion if controls are not enforced through licensing and end-use checks. U.S. and EU officials say recent measures are designed to be bounded and that anti-circumvention rules remain in force. The U.S. general licence itself specifies that it does not override other federal export-control regimes such as the ITAR and EAR.
Separately, Russia has for months raised the issue of restoring direct U.S.–Russia flights, suspended since February 2022. No such resumption has been agreed. The current U.S. action applies to Belavia only and does not alter EU/UK bans. Any reconfiguration of air links would require multiple regulatory and overflight permissions.
The appearance of U.S. officers at Zapad-2025 therefore sits within a broader, cautious U.S.–Belarus engagement: limited humanitarian concessions matched by targeted sanctions relief, against a backdrop of continuing EU restrictions and ongoing hostilities in Ukraine. For NATO capitals, the drills remain a focus of surveillance given their scale, timing and precedents, even as Minsk signals openness to outside observers.
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