EU chief Antonio Costa on Friday defended diplomatic outreach by his office to the Kremlin, saying the bloc needed to "listen" to Moscow despite pushback from some member states.
"It is precisely because we need also to support Ukraine through diplomatic means that we need to have a direct diplomatic channel with Russia," European Council president Costa said after a summit of EU leaders.
"The time to negotiate has not arrived yet," added Costa, who said there were no "credible signs" that Russia wants to engage.
"But in any case, we need to establish immediately this direct contact, because we need to listen to them," as well as be able to "convey directly" messages from the bloc to Moscow, he said.
An EU official said Wednesday Costa's office had made "brief contacts at diplomatic level" with Moscow aimed at opening communication channels.
The move by Costa, who chairs summits of the EU's leaders, came as discussions grow on whether Europe should re-engage with Russia about ending the Ukraine war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for Europe to play a more active role as US efforts to end the fighting have faded.
But some EU states have been wary about reaching out to Kremlin, with diplomats saying several leaders pushed backed against Costa's efforts at the summit in Brussels.
French President Emmanuel Macron said after the meeting that Europe had to be at the table eventually in any talks on ending the war -- but Moscow needed to show it was ready for genuine negotiations.
"It's up to Russia, to whom many offers have been made in recent months, to say when it will be ready to negotiate," Macron said.
"The negotiations will initially take place between Russia and Ukraine, and will have to bring the Americans and Europeans to the table."
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the time had not come yet when Europe had to chose who should represent it in talks with the Kremlin.
He said that powerhouses Germany, Britain and France had taken a lead at the request of Ukraine and Costa could have a role to play.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez backed Costa's initiative and said it didn't signify the start of negotiations with Russia.
"He didn't engage in any peace talks or negotiations. It was simply a diplomatic channel," Sanchez said.
"I think that's perfectly understandable and, from the Spanish government's point of view, I would even say it's necessary."