Britain and France will lead a military exercise in Poland this month to rehearse the deployment of a multinational force to Ukraine if the fighting ends in a peace deal. The exercise, Koalicja, is scheduled to run from 9 to 22 November and will involve nearly 2,800 personnel from 12 European nations across land, sea and air.
The drills will test how troops could be moved, protected and supplied, as well as whether forces from different countries can operate under shared command and control. The UK contribution will include 300 troops and two RAF Typhoon fighter jets, which will simulate reassuring commercial aircraft if Ukraine’s skies reopen.
Western officials say a force deployed to Ukraine would not conduct offensive operations, monitor a ceasefire or serve as a peacekeeping mission. It would not be under NATO command or stationed on the front line. Its stated purpose would be to reassure Ukraine and help rebuild its armed forces. The United States has taken part in discussions but will not contribute to the mission.
Turkey has agreed to lead the maritime mission, with the longer-term aim of clearing mines and enabling trade in the Black Sea to resume. Officials have not set out the force’s final size or composition, and say national contributions would depend on the circumstances of any halt to hostilities and individual countries’ political decisions.
UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting described the exercise as preparation for a possible end to the war, saying the plan involved a force ready to assist Ukraine once the fighting stops. The UK commander of the multinational force, Lt Gen Tom Bateman, said the rehearsal would help turn political commitments into military readiness.
Russia has opposed the prospect of foreign troops being stationed in Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin said last year that such troops would be “legitimate targets”. Western officials have not detailed rules of engagement in the event of an attack, though they say the force would be able to defend itself. Russia has shown no sign of wanting to end the war, and the role any Western force might play in training Ukrainian troops remains unclear.
Sources: BBC News World.