Overview
- India’s foreign ministry said several countries, including NATO members such as the United States, Türkiye and Hungary, attended the Russian‑Belarusian exercise as observers.
- An Indian contingent of 65 personnel took part in Zapad 2025 from 10–16 September, with the defence ministry describing goals of interoperability, conventional warfare tactics and counter‑terrorism training.
- EU foreign‑policy chief Kaja Kallas called participation in the drills and continued purchases of Russian crude obstacles to deeper ties, while noting the bloc does not expect India to completely decouple from Russia.
- Moscow publicly backed New Delhi’s participation, with spokesperson Maria Zakharova dismissing Western criticism as pressure on a sovereign state and saying India–Russia defence cooperation is not directed at third countries.
- Western analysts reported the exercises were smaller and less innovative than in 2017 and 2021, with Estonia’s military intelligence chief calling Zapad 2025 significantly reduced in scale.