The European Council, following a meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, decided to continue sanctions pressure on Russia and to continue to give Ukraine the weapons it needs.

In a final communiqué, EU leaders stressed that they "strongly condemn Russia's indiscriminate attacks on civilian and civilian infrastructure and call on Russia to withdraw immediately and without preconditions all its troops and military equipment from all occupied Ukrainian territory within its internationally recognized borders."

"Ukrainians, in particular children, who have been forcibly removed to Russia must be returned immediately in a safe way. Russia, Belarus and all those responsible for war crimes and other most serious crimes will be held accountable for their actions in accordance with international law," the communiqué said.

EU leaders also stressed that the sixth package of sanctions against Russia increases pressure on Russia to end its war against Ukraine.

"Work on sanctions will continue, in particular to strengthen their implementation and avoid avoidance. The European Council calls on all countries to implement the EU sanctions, particularly the candidate countries. The work on the Council decision, which adds violations of EU restrictive measures to the list of EU crimes, should be completed quickly," the document stresses.

With regard to Ukraine, the European Council stresses that it remains committed to providing further military support "to help Ukraine exercise its inalienable right of self-defense against Russian aggression and to defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty."

"To this end, the European Council calls on the EU Council to work quickly to further increase military support," the EU leaders said.