MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/. Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov told Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that the countries are reinforcing their defense in three directions. "I would like to note that Russia and Belarus are not just allies. We have a common defense space, which we are strengthening, and due to the very difficult international situation, we must strengthen it as soon as possible. We are doing this in three main directions," Belousov said. He said that the first direction is to boost coordination of troops and work of the headquarters. The key event this year is the joint exercises Zapad-2025 to be held simultaneously at the training grounds of Russia and Belarus. "The second direction is training of the Belarusian military personnel in the higher educational institutions of the Russian Federation," Belousov said. He added that at the moment more than 300 Belarusian servicemen are being trained at the universities of the Russian Defense Ministry, where they are taught the most modern forms of warfare, taking into account the experience of a special military operation, including the use of unmanned systems. "And the third area is our military-technical cooperation," the Russian Defense Minister noted.