Nato chief Mark Rutte, the head of the 32-nation defence bloc Nato, on Thursday insisted that Ukraine must be closely involved in any peace talks.
His comments, which echoed statements from a meeting of European foreign ministers, came as European defence chiefs gathered in the Belgian capital Brussels to begin preparations for the Nato summit in The Hague in June.
However, the agenda is likely to be overshadowed by Donald Trump's move to engage with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over a peace deal for Ukraine.
In their first confirmed contact since Trump's return to the White House, Trump said he had held a lengthy and highly productive conversation with Putin who ordered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The Kremlin said the call between Trump and Putin lasted nearly one-and-a-half hours and that the men had decided that the time had come to work together.
The foreign ministers of France, Germany and Spain said on Wednesday night that any peace deal in Ukraine must come with the involvement of Kyiv and its European partners.
"There will be no just and lasting peace in Ukraine without the participation of Europeans," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the meeting in Paris.
Barrot's German and Spanish counterparts - Annalena Baerbock and Jose Manuel Albares Bueno - added that no decisions could be taken without Ukraine.
Baerbock and Albares Bueno called on EU countries to show unity on the issue of Ukraine's inclusion in the peace talks.
"We want peace for Ukraine but we want an unjust war to end with a just peace," the Spaniard added.
Inclusion
Underlining the sentiments of the foreign ministers, Rutte said on Thursday that any final deal needed to be enduring.
"Of course, this is crucial," Rutte added. "When we talk about Ukraine, that Ukraine is closely involved in everything happening about Ukraine."
Trump's declarations have raised concerns that Ukraine will be left out of talks after he said that Kyiv's wish to join Nato was not practical.
Trump subsequently called the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to inform him of the conversation.
Trump said after the conversation: "Zelensky like President Putin, wants to make PEACE."
Andriy Yermak, head of Kyiv's presidential office, said in televised comments that Zelensky and Trump had agreed to immediately start work on the high-level teams from each side who will try to thrash out a deal.
On Wednesday, Pete Hegseth, the US Defence Secretary, told European counterparts that Ukraine's dream of returning to its pre-2014 borders was an illusionary goal and that Kyiv's wish for Nato membership was not realistic. Ahead of the Nato meeting he said Trump's push for peace was not a betrayal of Ukraine.
The Kremlin's statement on the call with Trump said Putin agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be reached through peace negotiations. It added that Putin wanted to address the root causes of the conflict, which Russian blames on western influence on Kyiv.
Zelensky is due to meet US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday at the Munich Security Conference.
