Andrew Budd: Military Exercises West-2017 Is Threat To Ukraine

The NATO representative has told about the possible consequences of the Russian-Belarusian exercises.

The holding of Russian-Belarusian exercises West-2017 causes concern in the West, because they can affect the situation in Ukraine, head of the defense capabilities section of the NATO Directorate for Defense Policy Andrew Budd says, Interfax reports.

"Kavkaz-2014 (the command and control exercises of the Southern Military District of the Armed Forces of Russia, which took place on September 17 – 23, 2012) helped the Russians to seize part of Georgia’s territory, so the West-2017 exercises cause concern in the West, since this can seriously influence the situation in relation to Ukraine," – E. Budd said during the Rose-Rota seminar "Security and Stability in Ukraine and the Black Sea Region" on Monday in Kiev.

He notes that the exercises West-2017 provide for "serious, large-scale transfer of forces by rail" and other events that cannot but cause concern.