Vilnius has assured Minsk that the yearly large-scale military exercises are not targeting Belarus or any other country, the Lithuanian Defence Ministry said.
Previously, Alexander Lukashenko said NATO troops in Poland and Lithuania were "seriously stirring" near their borders with Belarus and ordered his troops into full combat readiness. Lithuanian officials dismissed the statements as an attempt to deflect attention from repressions against protesters in Belarus.
Read more: Lukashenko puts troops on alert, Lithuania says regime ‘trying to divert attention’
Karolis Aleksa, the head of the ministry's International Relations and Operations Group, met with Yuri Kharin, Belarus' defense attaché to Lithuania, on Wednesday.
Aleksa "underlined that all the exercises taking place in the country are of a defensive nature and are not directed against any state, including Belarus," the ministry said in a press release.
The official also told the Belarusian diplomat that "Lithuania demonstrates transparency by informing [Belarus] about its military exercises and expects the same from its neighbours".
Lithuania's defense attaché in Minsk presented the same information to officials from the Belarusian Defence Ministry's International Military Cooperation Department on Wednesday, according to the press release.
Among other drills, Lithuania hosts Iron Wolf exercises every spring and autumn, which also involves NATO's multinational battalion stationed in the country.
Belarus has been engulfed in protests against Alexander Lukashenko's rule and vote rigging in the August 9 presidential election.
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