MUNICH — European leaders took steps Sunday to answer assertive U.S. efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine as France announced a meeting of continental leaders and Baltic countries called for new steps to strengthen Kyiv’s hand in any future talks.

The jockeying for position by Europe, Ukraine’s top military and financial backer along with the U.S., comes as the Trump administration has quickly sought to mediate an end to the fighting three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

With Moscow’s forces making some territorial gains in eastern Ukraine in recent months, Finnish President Alexander Stubb on the last day of the Munich Security Conference called for “maximum pressure on Russia” through sanctions and asset freezes in the lead-up to any talks.

He laid out three phases: prenegotiation, ceasefire and long-term peace talks.

“The first phase is the pre-negotiation, and this is a moment when we need to rearm Ukraine and put maximum pressure on Russia, which means sanctions, which means frozen assets, so that Ukraine begins these negotiations from a position of strength,” Stubb said.

French President Emmanuel Macron is rallying European leaders, his foreign minister announcing an emergency “working meeting” on Ukraine’s next steps after recent U.S. announcements.

Speaking to France-Info on Sunday, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot sought to project a united front: “A wind of unity is blowing over Europe, as we perhaps have not felt since the COVID period.”

Macron had called for “consultations between European leaders on the situation in Ukraine and the security challenges in Europe.”

He will host an informal afternoon meeting Monday with the leaders of Germany, the U.K., Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as European Council President Antonio Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

The discussions could continue in other formats, according to the French statement, with the goal of “bringing together all partners interested in peace and security in Europe.”

News reports said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk were among those expected in Paris.

President Trump’s push for a quick way out of Russia’s all-out war in Ukraine stirred concern and uncertainty in Munich.

After a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, Trump said that he and Putin would likely meet soon to negotiate a peace deal over Ukraine. Trump later assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy he would have a seat at the table. U.S. officials have indicated that European nations, however, would not be involved.

“Don’t underestimate Trump as a negotiator. I genuinely believe Putin is baffled and afraid what might be coming from there,” Stubb said. “Right now, the ball is in our court. We need to convince the Americans where’s the value added and then get back to the table. I think in Europe we need to talk less and do more,” he said.

President Edgars Rinkevics of Latvia, which like Finland borders Russia, agreed that “if we are strong, if we have something to offer … then we are going to be interesting to the United States. If you just continue having those nice conferences, talking and whining, then we are not going to be interesting to our own publics very soon.”

He also noted “a point that probably went unnoticed Friday” in Munich, which was von der Leyen’s “important announcement” that she would propose a temporary waiver of EU budgetary rules in crisis situations — this time to allow for extra defense spending.

“I can announce that I will propose to activate the ‘escape clause’ for defense investments,” she said. “This will allow member states to substantially increase their defense expenditure. Of course, we will have to do this in a controlled and conditional way.”

On Saturday, Zelenskyy called for the creation of an “ armed forces of Europe “to better stand up to an expansionist Russia” that also could threaten the 27-nation EU.