E5 talks in Berlin took place between heads of state of Britain, France, Italy, Poland and Germany ahead of NATO’s July summit.

Top European leaders want to send “a strong signal of support for Ukraine” at the NATO summit in Ankara in July, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says.

“The message to Russia is: Ukraine remains strong,” Merz said on Wednesday as he hosted the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Poland at a summit for the European Group of Five (E5) in Berlin.

This followed a call by videolink between the E5 leaders and NATO chief Mark Rutte.

Leaders from 32 countries, including United States President Donald Trump, will attend the NATO summit in the Turkish capital on July 7 and 8.

Merz, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Keir Starmer, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Poland’s Donald Tusk pledged in a joint statement “to further substantially support Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression, including through sanctions and economic pressure on Russia as well as support for the resilience of Ukraine’s energy sector”.

A successful summit would strengthen transatlantic ties with the US, “and it brings us together as Europeans”, Merz also said.

The German chancellor added he would brief Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following the talks in Berlin.

Reporting from Berlin, Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane said Merz “was looking to send a message to the wider world and perhaps also to two specific individuals, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, about the preparedness of the E5 countries to play their role in NATO”.

Kane highlighted that this meeting in Berlin echoed messages at the EU Summit last week around the E5’s “clear commitment … to increasing their defence spending to bolster Ukraine”.

This comes after Trump said he would do whatever he can to end the Russia-Ukraine war after a “very good” meeting in France at the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains near the Swiss border last week.

Macron and Meloni said the Europeans would signal their readiness at the NATO summit for a military mission in the Strait of Hormuz.

But both said several conditions would need to be met, including that the US and Iran need to finalise their memorandum of understanding, including on nuclear inspectors and frozen assets, which has led to a ceasefire.

European leaders also praised outgoing British Prime Minister Starmer for his work over the past two years, as Merz cited his “team play”, Macron his “good strategic decisions”, and Meloni his “excellent cooperation”. Anglophile Tusk even said Starmer’s commitment meant Europe had become a united force again and leaders had “forgotten Brexit for a while”.