The exercise, Brave Griffin, focused on rapid deployment, allied coordination and a defensive scenario involving the repelling of a potential attack. Troops from Poland and Lithuania formed the core of the drills, with support from forces from the United States and Portugal. The Suwałki Gap links the Baltic states with the rest of NATO and lies between Belarus and Russia’s heavily militarized Kaliningrad exclave. Its strategic importance has grown since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The drills were observed by the presidents of Poland and Lithuania, Karol Nawrocki and Gitanas Nausėda, who used the visit to underline allied unity on NATO’s eastern flank.
