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By Roland Oliphant

He is infamous for running Europe’s last dictatorship. But Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian President, might also make a claim to being the continent’s most accomplished tightrope walker.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Russia is sending thousands of troops into Belarus. Belarusians and NATO are worried Back to video

Now Lukashenko’s two-decade political balancing act between the Kremlin and the West is about to be tested like never before.

On Sept. 14, thousands of Russian troops will fan out across the former Soviet state as part of one of the largest military exercises since the end of the Cold War.

Officially, the week-long drill, Zapad (West) 2017, is a friendly joint Russo-Belarusian exercise involving no more than 12,700 troops — just under the limit at which they would be obliged to invite foreign observers.

Photo by Sergei Grits/AP

In reality, Zapad is occurring at the same time and in co-ordination with vast manoeuvres across western Russia — and Western military leaders are uneasy about the implications.