Ukraine and Europe must be consulted on any efforts to end the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, top European diplomats said Thursday, as reports circulate about a US proposal to end the war.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller declined to comment on reports about the proposal, but said President Donald Trump wants “to reach a settlement in the Ukraine-Russia war, so that we can have peace in Europe and we can end the killing and the slaughter of so many innocents.”

European Union foreign ministers in Brussels emphasised that they would not accept one-sided deals that exclude Kyiv and its European partners.

“For any plan to work, it needs Ukrainians and Europeans on board,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at the start of a meeting in Brussels of the 27-nation bloc's foreign ministers.

Kremlin also responded by saying Russia's position remains unchanged, adding that any peace deal must address the "root causes of the conflict", a phrase Moscow has long used to refer to its demands. (AP, Reuters)