E5 Leaders Pledge Ukraine Support Before July NATO
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- Friedrich Merz hosted E5 leaders (UK, France, Italy, Poland, Germany) in Berlin ahead of NATO's July 7-8 summit in Ankara, declaring the message to Russia: "Ukraine remains strong."
- The E5 joint statement pledged to "further substantially support Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression" through sanctions, economic pressure on Russia, and support for Ukraine's energy sector resilience.
- Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni said Europeans would signal readiness for a military mission in the Strait of Hormuz, but only after the US and Iran finalize a memorandum on nuclear inspectors and frozen assets.
- The NATO summit in Ankara will draw leaders from 32 countries, including US President Donald Trump; Merz said he will brief Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the Berlin talks.
- E5 leaders publicly praised outgoing British PM Keir Starmer, with Poland's Donald Tusk saying Starmer's commitment meant Europe had "forgotten Brexit for a while."
Why it matters: The E5's joint position on Ukraine and the Hormuz mission, delivered weeks before a 32-nation NATO summit that includes Trump, presents a coordinated European front on both defense spending and the Strait of Hormuz. Macron and Meloni's explicit conditions on the Hormuz mission tie European military readiness to progress on the US-Iran nuclear memorandum, directly linking two items on the Ankara agenda.
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