A joint statement adopted at a crisis meeting of the 25-nation bloc on Tuesday said: "The council calls for an immediate end to hostilities to be followed by a sustainable ceasefire."
The 25 EU foreign ministers agreed to call for an urgent halt to the fighting, effective immediately.
Britain, Germany and others initially were against such a call.
No ceasefire
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German foreign minister, said the EU agreement did not mean an immediate ceasefire.
"Cessation of hostilities is not the same as a ceasefire," he said. "A ceasefire can perhaps be achieved later... We can now only ask the UN Security Council and put pressure on it and not to waste any more time."
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US allies pushed the EU to water
down calls for a ceasefire |
Erkki Tuomioja, the Finnish foreign minister,
whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the EU urged the UN Security Council to be "rapidly convened" to agree on a resolution to end the fighting.
Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, said: "We hope our voice will be heard in the solution of this conflict."
He was tasked by EU foreign ministers to continue his mediation role in finding a peaceful solution.
The United Nations on Tuesday said ambassadors from the five permanent members of its Security Council and Kofi Annan, the secretary-general, held "frank discussions" on the crisis.
"They discussed the cessation of hostilities, a ceasefire and political framework for a settlement, the composition and deployment of a stabilisation force for Lebanon, and the humanitarian situation," a UN statement said.
The world body also said it would host a meeting on Thursday of contributors to a possible international force to be sent to Lebanon.