Tusk: Poland will host international military exercises to prepare for Ukraine security guarantees
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Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced that Poland will host international military exercises later this year with the aim of preparing to provide security guarantees for Ukraine after a potential peace deal or ceasefire with Russia.
Tusk also declared Poland’s willingness to permanently host more troops from allied countries, with his defence minister later suggesting that this could involve French or British personnel.
Bezpieczeństwo nie rodzi się z deklaracji. Rodzi się ze współpracy. Pierwsze ćwiczenia wojsk Koalicji Chętnych odbędą się jesienią w Polsce. On Monday, the so-called Coalition of the Willing, a group of countries supporting Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression, gathered for a summit in Paris.
Speaking on Tuesday morning, Tusk noted that a key topic of discussion had been “how to practically ensure security for Ukraine and the region after a possible peace, or at least a ceasefire”.
He said there had been a “joint decision that the first exercises and manoeuvres [relating to this issue], involving French and British troops, will take place in Poland this autumn”.
“These exercises will prepare the entire coalition gathered in Paris today to provide real security guarantees for Ukraine,” the Polish prime minister added. “We welcomed with great satisfaction this final decision that Poland will host not only American but also British and French troops.”
Tusk went on to say that, while for now they had only discussed exercises, he had on Monday “announced to all leaders that Poland will also prepare logistically and financially for the permanent presence of not only American troops but also our allied forces in Europe”.
Speaking later on Tuesday, defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz confirmed that Poland is “ready for the permanent presence of, for example, French or British troops”. Both he and Tusk noted that this would be part of Europe’s efforts to take greater responsibility for defending NATO’s eastern flank.
So far, there has been no confirmation from other allied countries about the exercises announced by Tusk nor any comment on the idea of hosting more allied troops in Poland.
Earlier this year, after a previous Coalition of the Willing summit in Paris, Tusk announced that Poland would be the “lead country” on providing logistical support for Ukraine after a potential peace deal. However, Poland has ruled out sending any peacekeeping forces to Ukraine.
Poland will be “the lead country” in logistical support for any peace deal in Ukraine, @donaldtusk has announced following today's Paris summit. Tusk also reiterated that there will be no Polish troops on the ground in Ukraine as part of the peace process Poland already hosts around 10,000 US troops, though the number varies as most are deployed on a rotational basis. In 2023, the US established its first permanent military garrison in Poland. The following year it opened a missile defence base .
Last month, the Polish government formally requested that the US establish a new permanent military base in Poland. That came shortly after President Donald Trump pledged to send 5,000 additional troops to the country.
This month, both President Karol Nawrocki’s chief foreign policy aide, Marcin Przydacz, and deputy defence minister Cezary Tomczyk separately announced that Washington has given the “green light” for the new base. However, no official announcement has yet been made.
Poland also currently hosts small contingents of troops from other allied countries, including the UK, Romania and Croatia.
The Polish government has formally requested that the United States establish a new permanent military base in Poland. The announcement comes shortly after President Donald Trump pledged to send 5,000 additional American troops to the country Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: KPRM/Flickr (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 )
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland . He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy , POLITICO Europe , EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna .