On January 13th in Helenów near Warsaw a meeting of the deputy prime minister – minister of national defense Władysław Kosiniak Kamysz and the defence ministers of Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy took place. The defence minister of Ukraine has also joined the meeting, held in the Group of Five format, through videoconference.

The event started with a bilateral meeting of the defence ministers of Poland and France. After formally greeting the delegations, the participants have begun discussions in the Group of Five format. The topics discussed included the coordination of building an allied system of security, military aid for Ukraine, cooperation of defence industries and increasing defense spending.

- We have started our first session with a video conference with Ukraine’s defense minister Umerov. We have confirmed our allied support for Ukraine, determination for donations and training of Ukrainian soldiers. However the main point of discussion today was the development of production capabilities between Europe and Ukraine, between our firms and Ukrainian firms. (…). We are reaffirming our alliance commitments to each other and our transatlantic relations with our partners in the United States. Coordinating those actions, aimed not only at supporting Ukraine, develop the defense industries and European-Ukrainian relations but also increasing our defensive potential, is very important to us. This was the topic of the second part of our meeting – increasing defensive potentials, the readiness of our forces and our troops. We have discussed shared maneouvres. We have adopted this initiative. I think these shared maneouvres and excercises will take place in 2026, naturally with a great role for NATO, as without it nothing can be undertaken. 

- the Polish defence minister said after the meeting.

The allies’ discussions centered around strengthening existing cooperation in the context of existing security challenges in Europe, especially supporting Ukraine defending againsts the Russian aggression.

Deputy prime minister W. Kosiniak – Kamysz noted the necessity of expanding the European defence industry.

- I am glad that we can work for the benefit of the entire European Union in this format. The defence industry can be the basis of a new relationship between the European Union and Great Britan. Defense policy and indystry can be the foundation of even stronger relations, which we need today. (…). The year 2025 must be the year of expanding the defense industry in Europe. Production standarisation, lighter regulations and elimination of bureaucratic obstacles must become priorities. Europe has to show unity not just in words, but also in actions that will increase the security of its citizens, of all Europeans – those free and democratic states that have great history and can have an even greater future. 

- said the deputy prime minister.

>>> GALLERY – The meeting of five ministers of defense in Helenów

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The Group of Five meeting was held among those NATO countries that have the highest defense spending. It is a continuation of the dialogue that started during the previous meeting in November last year in Berlin.

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The Joint Statement of Group of Five Defence Ministers Helenów, Poland, 13 January 2025 

Support Ukraine as long as it takes by fostering defence industrial cooperation We reiterate our unwavering support to Ukraine in its right of self-defence in order to counter Russia’s aggression and in achieving a just and lasting peace, in line with the international law, for as long as it takes.

The Ukraine Defence Contact Group and Associated National Armaments Directors (NADs) group will continue to be an important forum for us to announce and deliver military equipment for Ukraine. Through the International Capability Coalitions working with the newly installed NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) in close coordination with EU Military Assistance Mission Ukraine (EUMAM), we can focus on the delivery of capabilities to Ukraine that not only meets their current needs, but also enhances interoperability.

Similarly, as far as supporting Ukraine is concerned, we pledge to a growing coordination between dedicated NATO (NSATU, Joint Analysis Training and Education Centre), EU (EUMAM) and UDCG structures (capability coalitions), in order to create a fruitful synergy in terms of delivery, training and doctrine.

We underline that a strong European defence industry and supply chains will form a crucial component of deterrence. We encourage our domestic industrial sector to cooperate, engage and collaborate with the Ukrainian defence industry in order to create synergies and to improve the standards and production, which are instrumental to enable their self-defence and contribute to peace and stability in Europe. We envisage measures such as industrial information exchanges and joint ventures aimed to enhance the Ukrainian defence industry, to foster standardization, interoperability and to avoid duplication. This process will be inclusive and open for partners to join with their own defence industries or with financial support. We will seek deeper defence cooperation in order to draw lessons learned from Ukraine’s fight for self-defence against Russia.

Strengthening our capabilities to deter and defend against Russia We reiterate the utmost importance of the transatlantic bond. Given the deteriorated security environment, we consider it to be of paramount importance to focus on our collective efforts to keep the Alliance and Member States safe. We will achieve this through a stronger collective defence, in line with the NATO Concept for Deterrence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area (DDA), while maintaining NATO’s commitment to a 360° approach.

We see the upcoming 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague as an opportunity strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defence posture, including through the full implementation of decisions from the Madrid, Vilnius and Washington Summits, a new NATO strategic approach to Russia and counter-hybrid measures.

We welcome the apportionment of NATO capability targets to be endorsed at the NATO Defence Ministerial Meeting in June 2025. We are committed to enhancing our military capabilities to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defence posture in line with NATO requirements and fair burden sharing, in support of SACEUR’s regional plans, recognising that it requires increased defence spending and having in mind that leveraging defence effort is a prerequisite for it.

We recognise the importance of multinational initiatives, taking into account possible synergies between capability development and European defence industrial programmes (including European Defence Industry Programme – EDIP – the Ukraine Support instruments and NATO’s Defence Production Plan). We also underline the importance of activating mechanisms for European enhanced defence efforts including making use of financial incentives and instruments that will be financially bold.

Europe urgently needs strong capabilities to ensure its Security and Defence in the spirit of fair transatlantic burden sharing. To this end we aim to maximize EU-NATO cooperation to allow for a close and synergetic cooperation, including the crucial area of information exchange. It is vital to further align both the NATO Defence Planning Process and the EU’s Headline Goal Process. The basis for the development of capabilities should be NATO capability targets in keeping with NATO's military specifications and standards. This will maximize our interoperability and overall warfighting capacity.

To this end we have decided that our next meeting in Paris will focus on scoping options for streamlining procurement standards and procedures and will invite the Secretary General of NATO, the High Representative of the EU and the EU Commissioner for Defence and Space.