Last week, Donald Trump placed 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports, with the EU promising to retaliate with tariffs on up to €26bn of US products.

French Prime Minister François Bayrou said the European Union might have mistakenly targeted American whiskey in response to the United States tariffs. Bayrou called for discussions to avoid further harmful tariffs that could impact the French cognac industry.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday that it was sad to hear that the U.S. was withdrawing funding for Radio Free Europe but that the EU cannot automatically come in with funding.

The US president signed an executive order on Friday to stop funding the American global broadcaster, following criticism from Elon Musk.

The Czech Republic wants to discuss the future of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty at a meeting of European Union ministers on Monday, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said after U.S. funding for the news service was cut.

The interim government in Damascus will take part on Monday in an annual international conference to gather aid pledges for Syria, facing dire humanitarian problems and an uncertain political transition after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Germany on Monday kicked off a new pledging round of aid for Syria, as the EU hosts a donor drive for the war-torn country after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. The EU has held its annual donor drive for Syria for the past eight years -- but it mainly focused on supporting refugees in neighbouring countries and avoided any contacts with the Assad regime.