EU leaders reply to Trump: You need us at the table to make any peace deal work

European leaders hardened their tone on Thursday in reaction to the phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, reminding the American president that any peace settlement will require Europe's involvement to work in practice.

Wednesday's call, in which the two leaders agreed to "immediately" start negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, has gone down badly across the continent and raised fears that Europe would be completely removed from the nascent peace process.

Securing a seat at the table has always been a top priority for EU leaders, who, in the early months of the war, granted Ukraine candidate status to join the 27-member bloc.

"If there is an agreement made behind our backs, it will simply not work. Because you need, for any kind of deal, any kind of agreement, you need the Europeans to implement this deal, you need the Ukrainians to implement this deal," said Kaja Kallas, the EU's High Representative, while attending a ministerial meeting at NATO.

António Costa, the president of the European Council, issued a similar warning to the White House, arguing peace in Ukraine and security in Europe are "inseparable."

"Peace cannot be a simple ceasefire. Russia must no longer be a threat to Ukraine, to Europe, to international security," Costa said. "There will be no credible and successful negotiations, no lasting peace, without Ukraine and without the EU."

The chief spokesperson of the European Commission said "There can be no discussion about Europe's and Ukraine's security without Europe" and described the Trump-Putin call as "the beginning of a process," with more steps to follow.

The spokesperson confirmed Washington did not reach out to Brussels before the phone call took place on Wednesday. "There was no