Their presence seemed implausible three and a half years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But there the two American military observers were on Monday, standing on a viewing platform in Belarus, as that country’s military held joint exercises with the same Russian Army that continues to pound Ukraine in defiance of President Trump.

Belarus, which has been trying to improve relations with the United States even as it remains dependent on Russia and an enabler of its war, seemed to revel in the U.S. attendance at the war games, called Zapad 2025.

Belarusian military officials framed the Americans’ visit, several days into the joint exercises, as a happy surprise and urged them to have a look wherever they liked. “Who could have thought how the morning of another day of Zapad 2025 exercises would start,” the Belarus Defense Ministry wrote on its Telegram channel.

After shaking hands with the U.S. officials, Defense Minister Viktor G. Khrenin told them that “we are not hiding anything.”