France's President Emmanuel Macron, the UK's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and Polish PM Donald Tusk met in Berlin on Wednesday for an E5 summit hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The E5 format was launched in 2024 to bring together the defence ministers of Europe's largest military powers and biggest defence spenders, coordinating support for Ukraine, addressing the US's gradual withdrawal from Europe, and setting up joint defence projects.
The gathering of NATO's most influential European members comes ahead of a key summit of the alliance on 7-8 July in Ankara.
The E5 meeting also aimed to build on the so-called "Évian moment," as Macron put it — when G7 leaders, including US President Donald Trump, displayed unity on backing Ukraine's war effort and ramping up pressure on Russia to engage seriously in peace talks.
"The process that began at the G7 summit in Évian continued at last week’s European Council, and is set to continue with the NATO summit in Ankara, followed by the 'Coalition of Willing' in support of Ukraine and the security guarantees," Macron said at the press conference after the E5 summit.
