Poland's first Coalition of the Willing exercise in November, exact date still unset

The drill in southeastern Poland is to test command and logistics rather than show force, Le Monde reports, with airspace over Romania also included. Details are expected in early November.

The exact start date for the Coalition of the Willing's first military exercise in Poland has still not been set, because the participating states have not yet fully agreed. Details are expected in early November.

The coalition, a group of European countries backing Ukraine, decided in July 2026 at a meeting of leaders in Paris, France, to hold its first exercises in Poland that autumn, with British and French forces taking part. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at the time that the maneuvers would strengthen allied states' readiness to act together for the security of the region and of Ukraine.

The exercise is planned for November at training grounds in southeastern Poland, with thousands of personnel, the Polish and British defence ministries said after a meeting in Warsaw on 27 October between UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting and his Polish counterpart, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Germany's Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, will also take part with about ten staff officers, tanker aircraft and logistics support. The airspace over Romania and the western Black Sea is also included, the German military said.

According to Le Monde, whose reporting was picked up by Ukrainian media, the drill will be no show of force with tanks and missiles. Instead, it is to test the command system and logistics procedures for moving troops and equipment across Europe, with counter-drone defence an important element.

Coalition of the Willing leaders met in Kyiv on 24 August, in person and by video conference, chaired by the British, French, German and Ukrainian leaders Andy Burnham, Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to mark the 35th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. They said the coalition would continue to prepare the Multinational Force Ukraine to deploy once a credible cessation of hostilities is in place, as part of wider binding security guarantees for Ukraine after a ceasefire. The same leaders repeated their call for Russia to agree to a ceasefire starting immediately from the line of contact, with no conditions attached. The United States is not taking part in the exercise, and its participation in future security guarantees for Ukraine remains largely uncertain. Russian Ambassador Andrey Kelin told the Russian newspaper Izvestia in July he did not think the gathering would turn into anything large-scale.