NATO chief demands Russian 'transparency' on war games

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Aug. 25 urged the Kremlin to comply with rules on transparency as Russia geared up for huge military exercises along the alliance's eastern flank next month.

Stoltenberg, speaking at a joint press conference in Warsaw with Poland's right-wing Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, urged Moscow to respect international conventions on keeping other countries informed of the manoeuvres.

Zapad 2017 ("West"), has stoked alarm in NATO members Poland and the Baltic states, all former members of the Soviet bloc.

It takes place in Belarus, which border three NATO member states, and comes as a more assertive Russia pushes back against what it sees as the alliance's unjustified expansion into eastern Europe.

"I call on Russia to ensure compliance with its obligations under the OSCE Vienna Document, because predictability, transparency is especially important when we have increased military activity along our borders," said Stoltenberg.

The Vienna Document requires signatory nations to provide advance information of exercises and to allow observer teams to avoid any dangerous misunderstandings.

On Aug. 25, he vowed that the alliance would "be watching very closely as this (Zapad) exercise takes place next month" in Belarus, which borders alliance members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.  
 
Russia's Interfax news agency reported this week that the Belarussian defence ministry had invited observers from seven countries: Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, and Norway.

Russia has dismissed the concerns over the exercises.

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