BELARUS warned on Thursday of an expansion into eastern Europe by the European Union and Nato, claiming that their military manoeuvres have doubled in the past five years.

President Alexander Lukashenko said that “increasing tensions on the western borders of the CSTO [were] a dangerous trend,” referencing the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation of which Belarus is a member.

He condemned the US-led military expansion in eastern Europe which recently saw some 28,000 troops deployed as part of Nato military exercises stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

Mr Lukashenko raised concerns over an increase in non-defensive exercises by Nato, saying that operations of this nature now see 90 major drills per year, with the number of personnel involved ranging from 60,000 to 110,000.

Belarus and Russia have recently conducted joint military exercises, and last Sunday Mr Lukashenko announced that his country planned to buy more than $1 billion (£725 million) of military equipment from Moscow over the next four years.

The nations’ joint war games, known as Zapad, are held every four years. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has recently stoked tensions by claiming that Russia aims to seize the cities of Kiev, Odessa and Kharkov, Mr Lukashenko said.

Poland declared a state of emergency along its eastern border with Belarus last week ahead of the exercises. 

Latvia and Lithuania made similar moves, claiming that Mr Lukashenko is deliberately sending migrants into the EU.

Belarus claims that the Nato military exercises aim to generate “provocations and incidents” as part of plans to overthrow Mr Lukashenko.

Western powers say that last year’s elections, which were won by Mr Lukashenko as he received 80 per cent of the vote, were fraudulent.

The EU has imposed a raft of sanctions targeting leading Belarusian officials and has swung its support behind opposition figure Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

Earlier this year a resolution passed by the European Parliament expressed regret that the Belarusian authorities failed to follow World Bank and IMF recommendations to privatise the state sector, implement austerity and “encourage entrepreneurship.”