After US President Joe Biden met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva on June 16, French President Emmanuel Macron said the first EU summit with Putin since January 2014 would be a dialogue to defend EU interests.

He insisted the EU could not only be reactive in its diplomacy with Russia.

But after late night talks at their meeting in Brussels, the 27 EU leaders failed to reach an agreement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said early on Friday.

EU summits with Russia ended after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March 2014 and the West imposed sanctions.

While Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said he supported the Franco-German proposal, many other leaders were opposed.