On Friday, Russian-Belarusian manoeuvres—very aggressive from a military doctrine perspective—begin in Belarus, very close to the Polish border," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said earlier this week.
"Therefore, for national security reasons, on Thursday at midnight we will close the border with Belarus, including rail crossings, in connection with the Zapad manoeuvres,” he added.
'Border closed indefinitely': interior minister
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said on Thursday that Poland’s decision was prompted by "an increasing number of provocations" and attempts at illegal crossings.
"This closure is not limited to the duration of the Zapad-2025 exercises," he said. “The border will remain closed indefinitely and will reopen only when the situation allows for complete security."
A key "target” of the Zapad-2025 drills is the Suwałki Gap, a strategic stretch of land near Russia’s westernmost region of Kaliningrad, according to Tusk.
He said on Tuesday that Polish and allied forces would hold their own exercises on the Polish side of the border.
Tusk has previously described Zapad-2025 as simulating "an attack, not defence," and said NATO would conduct parallel drills in Poland.
The Zapad-2025 (West-2025) war games are scheduled to take place from Friday to September 16 in western Russia and Belarus.
Russia and Belarus have said 13,000 troops will take part, but German and Lithuanian officials estimate closer to 30,000, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Germany’s top military officer, Gen. Carsten Breuer, said last week there were no signs of preparations for an attack on NATO territory, though allied forces remained on alert.
Last week, Warsaw accused Minsk of staging a provocation after the Belarusian KGB security service detained a Polish citizen on espionage charges tied to the drills.
Belarusian Defence Minister Viktar Khrenin said last month the Zapad-2025 exercises would include planning for the use of nuclear weapons and Oreshnik ballistic missiles.
Relations between Warsaw and Minsk, already strained, worsened after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine has urged European partners to stay vigilant, warning that "the cooperation between the regimes in Moscow and Minsk poses an immediate threat not only to Ukraine, but also to Poland, the Baltic states and all of Europe."
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Source: IAR, PAP