Ukrainian servicemen of the 33rd seperate assault regiment. AFP
A number of EU leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron have pushed to restart contacts with Russia's President Vladimir Putin as the United States forges ahead with efforts to end the Ukraine war.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said a special envoy could be named for the negotiations.
EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said she intended to circulate a list of "ideas" in the coming days to the EU's 27 member states laying out the demands that should be made to Moscow.
"Let's discuss what we want to talk about with the Russians before we talk about who is going to be the one who is talking to the Russians," the EU top diplomat told a group interview that included AFP.
"If they put out the maximalist demands, we should also put out the maximalist demands."
Kallas insisted that Europe needed to push for concessions from the Kremlin -- such as limiting its armed forces -- as Washington appeared more focused on getting Kyiv to compromise.
"In order to have a sustainable peace, everybody around the table, including the Russians and the Americans, need to understand that you need Europeans to agree," she said.
"For that, we also have conditions, and we should put the conditions, not on Ukrainians who have been already pressured a lot, but on the Russians."
Kallas insisted that Russia was "not winning" the war in Ukraine and that its casualty rates were "going up significantly".
The comments came as French leader Macron said he wants to include European partners in a resumption of dialogue with Putin, nearly four years after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Macron dispatched a top adviser to Moscow last week, in the first such meeting since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
- 'Don't push America away' -
As US-led talks with Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi failed to make a breakthrough, the EU is looking to up pressure on Moscow with new sanctions including a ban on shipping services to curb its oil revenues.
Brussels says it wants G7 partners -- including the United States -- to impose a similar ban and Kallas said she would press the issue in talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference this week.
"If we manage to push through the maritime services ban on the G7 level, it's going to hit them hard," she said.
Western leaders gathering in Germany will grapple with the future of transatlantic ties as US President Donald Trump has rocked allies with his demands on Greenland and stance on Ukraine.
"We have to stay cool-headed," Kallas said.
"Our relationship is there, it's been badly hurt -- that's seen by everybody, but we are willing to work on that."
Kallas insisted that Europe must continue to bolster its defences and take a greater role in NATO, while also keeping military superpower Washington on side.
"We don't want to push the Americans away," she said.
"We are making a lot of efforts, to make Europe stronger, make Europe's pillar in NATO also stronger. But it takes time."
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