Britain and France Lead 3,000-Troop Drill for a Post-Peace Ukraine Force

Nearly 3,000 military personnel from 12 European countries will gather in Poland from 9 to 22 November for Exercise Koalicja, a rehearsal of how a multinational force would move, protect and supply itself inside Ukraine if a peace deal lands. Britain and France are leading the drill, which spans land, sea and air. The UK is pitching in 300 troops and a pair of RAF Typhoons, while Turkey has agreed to run the maritime side.

The force itself has a name — the Multi National Force – Ukraine, or MNF-U — and a UK commander, Lt Gen Tom Bateman. He said the exercise turns political promises into something closer to real military readiness, calling it a force that is genuine, capable and ready to deploy. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting was blunter: this is not a hypothetical plan, he said, but a real force ready to help once the fighting stops.

What that force would not be is just as clear. Western officials stress it would sit under no Nato command, stay off the front line, and take no part in offensive operations, peacekeeping or ceasefire monitoring. Its job would be reassurance and helping Ukraine rebuild its armed forces. The RAF jets will even practice shepherding commercial aircraft once Ukraine's skies reopen, and the maritime mission aims to clear mines so Black Sea trade can restart.

Washington has been in the room for talks but is not contributing to the mission. Moscow has already made its feelings known, and Vladimir Putin said last year that foreign troops stationed in Ukraine would be legitimate targets. Officials won't say what the rules of engagement would be if that happened, though they insist the force could defend itself.

Plenty remains unresolved. Officials can't say what the final force would look like, how many nations would actually commit, or what it would depend on — everything hinges on how hostilities end and what each government decides politically at the time. Military experts have floated tens of thousands of troops as the scale needed to truly guarantee Ukraine's security, far beyond this month's rehearsal.

There's also the awkward question of training. Ukrainian soldiers are already in hot demand teaching Nato forces about drone warfare, so it's unclear what Western militaries would teach them in return. And above all, Russia has shown no sign it wants the war to end at all.