China and Belarus announced they were holding joint military training exercises just miles from the border of Poland – a NATO and European Union member.

Belarus’ Ministry of Defense said troops from China’s People’s Liberation Army arrived in Belarus over the weekend. It published a series of photographs showing Chinese troops offloading equipment from a military cargo aircraft and said the drills will last for 11 days, from Monday to July 19.

NATO and the EU have long accused Belarus of weaponizing the border by pushing asylum-seekers from third countries to its borders and the joint exercises will no doubt be seen by some as a further provocation – especially as they come on the eve of NATO’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington, D.C., and on the day that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is visiting Poland.