Russia amassing forces likely to strike Baltic states, Poland under certain conditions — diplomat

He shared this opinion in an interview with Antin Borkovskyi, host of the Studio West program on Espreso TV.

"The first important thing is to objectively assess one’s own capabilities and all components of potential, as well as to objectively assess the enemy’s capabilities, neither overestimating nor underestimating them. This is crucial. At present, the Russian Federation does not have the capability to conduct large-scale offensive campaigns. However, a grouping of forces is being formed on the territory of Belarus and in neighboring Russian regions. This clearly shows that the statements made by the President of Ukraine reflect reality. These units, in terms of their training level and logistics, are being directed toward the Baltic region," the diplomat noted.

In his opinion, this is likely the strike force that, under certain circumstances, will be used for an attack on the Baltic states and Poland.

"This has been talked about for a long time. The upcoming Zapad-2025 exercises will illustrate this clearly, both in their scenario and in what will actually take place. But this does not mean that attention to Ukraine’s northern direction should diminish," Roman Bezsmertnyi emphasized.

• On October 23, 2024, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense announced joint exercises with Russia called Zapad 2025. On April 4, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys stated that NATO is prepared to respond to the joint Russian-Belarusian drills.
• Meanwhile, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi believes that the large-scale military exercises in Belarus involving Russian troops, set to take place this fall, may be part of preparations for a new offensive against Ukraine.
• On April 29, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the Russians are "preparing something" in Belarus this summer under the cover of military exercises.