The Russian-Belarusian exercises Zapad-2021 will be held on the territory of the two states but mainly on Belarusian soil, from 10-16 September under the leadership of the chiefs of general staffs of the Armed Forces of both countries.
"You have a border crisis, you have a major military exercise going on at the borders of NATO countries, you also have increased presence on our side, the Lithuanian side, Estonian side, Polish side of border guards, and military formations. Of course, this is increasing the possibility of incidents", Rinkevics told the Financial Times.
The minister expressed doubts that anyone was interested in the deliberate escalation of tensions.
At the same time, he described the migration crisis on the Belarusian-EU border as "a very clear case of hybrid warfare".
"The migrants are actually being used as the weapon. The longer we live in this 21st century, the scarier it becomes. Things that we couldn't imagine that could be used, they are being used", Rinkevics added.
The European Union accuses Belarus of letting migrants cross over to get back at it for imposing economic sanctions on Minsk, who argues that it cannot afford to beef up border security.