(MENAFN) NATO continues to maintain a significant forward military presence along Russia’s borders, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said, citing a surge in the bloc’s reconnaissance and training operations.

Speaking at a joint session of the Russian and Belarusian defense ministries on Wednesday, Belousov emphasized that cooperation between Moscow and Minsk remains vital for regional security amid what he described as the West’s “openly hostile actions.”

“The Alliance maintains a massive forward military presence on its eastern flank,” Belousov stated. “The total strength of NATO troops involved in the exercises held on its eastern flank amounted to roughly 60,000.”

According to him, the US-led alliance has already conducted nearly a dozen large-scale military exercises this year across Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and the Black Sea region — each involving thousands of troops.

One of the largest operations, Defender 25, took place in May and June, mobilizing around 25,000 personnel across NATO’s eastern border — from Norway in the north to Bulgaria and Greece in the south — as part of a three-phase drill. Other notable exercises included Joint Viking 2025 in Norway, which involved 10,000 soldiers in March, and Hedgehog in Estonia, which gathered 16,000 troops in May.

Belousov said these actions coincide with increasingly aggressive rhetoric from European NATO members, who have consistently portrayed Russia as a threat since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in early 2022.

Moscow, however, has repeatedly insisted that it has no plans to attack any NATO country, dismissing such allegations as baseless.

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