European leaders meet urgently: Trump, Ukraine, NATO in focus

On the agenda are the continuation of support for Ukraine, the role of Europe in solving the war in Iran and the distribution of burdens among NATO members. All of these will be inevitable questions at the summit of 32 member states of the alliance on July 7 and 8.

Trump’s unpredictability

It is expected that the summit in Ankara will once again revolve around one question: What will US President Donald Trump do?

European leaders want to see how to reduce tensions between Washington and its transatlantic allies after the G7 summit in France this month. They arose in connection with the resolution of the war in Iran, and the public quarrel between Trump and Meloni added fuel to the fire on the eve of the NATO meeting.

This meeting in Berlin is the first E5 summit since the NATO meeting in The Hague in June 2025, which was also attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The group consists of all four European members of the G7 and Poland, which borders Russia and presents itself as a spokesperson for East European interests.

Rutte će se pridružiti iz Washingtona

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte plans to join the meeting via video link from Washington, where he is scheduled to meet with Trump later in the day.

The USA expects a greater commitment from Europe in the defense of the alliance. At the same time, Washington is frustrated because it believes it should have received greater federal support during the war with Iran, which the United States of America started in February together with Israel.

Countries like France, the United Kingdom and Germany are trying to mitigate the feeling of betrayal by deploying warships and minesweepers to increase security in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically important waterway between Iran and Oman – if the truce holds.

Before the meeting with Trump, Rutte sought to calm tensions. “When it comes to NATO, I know there are disappointments, but we should keep in mind that these are individual cases,” he told the American television station Fox News.

E1, E3 or E5 – who should negotiate with Putin?

Although the five leaders mostly agree on Trump and the NATO summit, the approach to resolving the war in Ukraine is a source of disagreement.

Italy and Poland are frustrated that Germany, France and the United Kingdom, known as the E3, have recently taken over European diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine on their own.

Tusk and Meloni feel marginalized. “Poland is an absolutely indispensable link for any serious discussion about the future of Ukraine and the region,” the Polish Prime Minister said two weeks ago, PAP news agency reported.

Italian head of diplomacy: We need a negotiator

Immediately before the E5 summit, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, called on Europe to agree on a negotiation.

“We need to find a person, man or woman, who will talk to Moscow on behalf of and on behalf of the whole of Europe,” he told the Roman newspaper La Verità. “It could be the head of state or government of a medium-sized European country, or perhaps an institutional authority, for example Antonio Costa”, the president of the European Council. He personally favors “someone from the institutions”.

Costa caused a stir at last week’s EU summit in Brussels after his team contacted Russia without first consulting. But that Portuguese politician received the support of some EU members, including Ireland and Austria.

On the other hand, the German delegation considers the initiative an insult to E3.