Berlin to host Ukraine coordination talks in E5 format

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said he has initiated a meeting of E5 leaders on Ukraine in Berlin next week, which includes Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, and France.

Merz made the remarks at a press briefing broadcast by NTV.

“We have always closely coordinated all issues related to Ukraine with all Europeans, especially with Poland and the United Kingdom. And I have already invited them to Berlin next week for a meeting in the E5 format,” Merz told journalists on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in the French town of Évian-les-Bains.

The goal is clear: to form a common position ahead of the Ankara summit on cooperation with Washington and to demonstrate to the United States that Europe is ready to take on more responsibility.

At the same time, EU Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius proposed on June 9 in Brussels transforming the E5 into an “informal security council.” In his view, this could be the first structural step toward a European Defence Union in which decisions are made by those willing to implement them, rather than waiting for consensus among all 27 EU members.

The key difference from the classic EU format is that the E5 is not bound by EU institutional procedures and can include countries outside the Union, primarily the United Kingdom and Norway. In the future, Türkiye and Canada are also being considered. This format is particularly significant for Ukraine: participation in joint defence initiatives and deeper cooperation with leading military powers in Europe opens an alternative path to integration into the European security space, separate from the long Brussels accession process.

By Vafa Guliyeva