Russia's biggest war games in 25 years inject fear among NATO and U.S.

Big Powers are showing their military might by way of military exercises and this time six day joint military exercise known as Zapad -2017 between Russia and its ally Belarus, the biggest ever show of force was displayed by creating a fictional state , Veishnoriya and its two allies Lubeniya and Vesbasriya.

The Russia-Belarus joint military exercise raised alarm bells among the NATO members when the tensions between U.S and Russia has escalated to such an extent that US has asked Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and two diplomatic annexes, in New York and Washington, in a carefully calculated riposte to Russia’s order that the United States cut its diplomatic staff in Russia .Zapad 2017 is a joint strategic military exercise of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and Belarus conducted in Belarus as well as in Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast and Russia′s other north-western areas from September 14-20.

meanwhile,Congress has imposed a fresh round of sanctions on Moscow in response to allegations of interference in the 2016 US election.
During the cold war era, Zapad was the biggest training exercise that began under the Soviet Union in 1970s. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was revived in 1999 , expanded after Vladimir Putin became presidnet in 2000 and has been held every four years thereafter.

Russia deployed 70 aircraft and about 250 tanks, 200 artillery systems and 10 navy ships which is considered as the largest display of Russian force in 25 years. Therefore, Baltic states Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and POland are sceptical of Russian war games as a cover for aggression similar on the lines when Russia carried out military exercises to comfalgue annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Due to Baltic nations fear, NATO has enhanced their reinforcements as they think that weapons left by Russia after their drills may be used as bases for Russia to carry out a sudden attack at NATO border. But Moscow has been blaming NATO for the distrust between them.In June 2016, NATO staged one of the largest exercises in eastern Europe and also NATO deployed forward-operating troops for the first time in all three Baltic states

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, who often criticizes Russian leaders, said the war games are a sign the Kremlin is preparing for conflict with NATO.

"We are anxious about this drill ... it is an open preparation for war with the West," Grybauskaite told reporters.
There is also unease in Kiev, and Ukraine is currently conducting its own military exercises. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that Zapad 2017 appears to be a "preparation for an offensive war on a continental scale."

"We are not threatening anyone," Oleg Voinov, an adviser to the Belarusian Defense Minister, told . "We have chosen military bases that are significantly removed from the borders with Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia."

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia had been completely open and transparent about its military's involvement in the exercises.