As western media receive rare invite, visit by US officials raises fears Trump is unwilling to take hard line on Moscow

Over a vast rolling field, Russian and Belarusian fighter jets drew fire as tanks shattered mock wooden houses and the buzz of drones filled the air. Moments later, troops stormed in, hoisting the allies’ flags above a “liberated” piece of land consumed by flames.

The military drills, part of the major Zapad-2025 military exercises and staged at the Borisov training ground in Belarus, were billed as a defensive response to a notional western invasion – in effect Nato. Zapa, which is the Russian word for “west”, refers to military drills focused on the western theatre.