Europe's top NATO powers pledge greater defence role, reaffirm US alliance

Europe's five main NATO members said Monday they were prepared to assume "greater responsibility" within the alliance while continuing to view the United States as an "indispensable ally".

Defence ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Britain (the E5 group) said after talks in Paris that "Europe must assume greater responsibility for its own security" and shoulder a greater burden within the alliance. 

"We are determined to work in close coordination with the United States and all Allies in order to implement this concrete ambition," they said in a statement.

"The United States is and will remain an indispensable Ally, and continued United States engagement in European security is essential to a strong and credible NATO."

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French minister Catherine Vautrin said the five countries had agreed to work towards "a stronger Europe within an equally stronger NATO" through a coordinated plan developed in "full transparency" with Washington.

Vautrin said that the next meeting of the E5 group would take place in Rome in March 2027.

European foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who took part in the meeting, said: "We must continue to modernise our forces and capabilities to build a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO."

The Polish minister was represented by his deputy, Pawel Zalewski.

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On US plans to reduce its military presence in Europe, Zalewski said he was confident any agreement would be coordinated with allies so there were no deterrence or "capability gaps".

In May, the Pentagon caught Europe off guard by announcing plans to withdraw around 5,000 troops from Germany, roughly 15 percent of the 36,000 stationed there.

Washington said at the time this withdrawal would take place over the next six to 12 months.

The E5 defence ministers also reaffirmed their commitment to supporting Ukraine, though they did not announce any new financial or operational assistance.

"We will be with Ukraine for as long as it takes," Britain's Wes Streeting said, warning of a Russian threat "of a kind we haven't seen since the end of the Cold War".

But "none of us seek war with Russia. And we certainly have no quarrel with the Russian people," he added.