EU leaders stress role in Ukraine peace talks after Washington meeting

European leaders on Tuesday underscored the need for the European Union to be involved in negotiations over Ukraine's future, following a meeting in Washington among U.S., Ukrainian, and EU leaders.

The European Council held a virtual meeting on Tuesday to review the outcomes of the Washington talks. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said progress had been made on providing robust security guarantees for Ukraine, ending the conflict, lifting sanctions, and securing the return of children.

European Council President Antonio Costa reaffirmed the EU's unwavering support for Kyiv, calling Ukraine a top priority for leaders in the weeks and months ahead. He said that Ukraine's strongest security guarantee should be its ability to maintain armed forces capable of defending its sovereignty, and that the following work is advancing Ukraine's EU membership bid and the tripartite negotiations. Costa emphasized the need for EU's participation in the peace talks.

The British government said European leaders were also weighing additional sanctions to intensify pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin. A Downing Street spokesperson noted that the "Coalition of the Willing," which met virtually on Tuesday, had agreed to advance security guarantee plans with U.S. counterparts and prepare for a potential reassurance force should hostilities end.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Tuesday that to make progress towards ending the Ukraine crisis, Western countries must accept that Ukraine cannot join NATO and that discussions about changes to its territory will be necessary.

"The first basic prerequisite for ending the conflict is the understanding that Ukraine cannot become a NATO member state," he said after a meeting of European Union leaders. "Equally important is the factual understanding that without a discussion on territorial changes in Ukraine, we will not move forward."

U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking a day after his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, expressed cautious optimism about future peace talks.

In an interview with the Fox News "Fox & Friends" program, Trump said that the coming weeks would reveal whether Putin was serious about peace.

On security guarantees, Trump said Europe might commit troops, but the U.S. would not, although Washington could provide other forms of assistance.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday said in an interview that Moscow did not rule out either bilateral or trilateral talks on Ukraine.