LUXEMBOURG CITY — The European Union found unity on Turkey on Monday — but the U.K. needed a lot of persuading to join in.

The bloc's foreign ministers pledged to suspend weapons exports to Turkey in response to an incursion into northern Syria, but stopped short of implementing a formal EU-wide arms embargo. They also condemned Turkey's "military action" in Syria and Ankara's drilling for oil and gas off the coast of Cyprus.

But the consensus was delayed by Turkey's old ally, the U.K., which wanted softer language, much to the annoyance of Federica Mogherini, the EU's outgoing foreign policy chief, and her successor Josep Borrell, according to three diplomats.

All other EU countries backed the tougher stance, with Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok saying that “without condemnation this paper will be useless," one of the diplomats said.

But in the end, London caved and the condemnation was made public, as was an extra line of text stressing that “Turkey is a key partner of the European Union.”

The move came after Turkey launched an incursion into northern Syria last week in a bid to drive Syrian Kurdish fighters away from the Syrian-Turkish border.

Some diplomats from EU member states were surprised that the often divided Foreign Affairs Council found any sort of unity and was able to agree that EU countries will “commit to strong national positions regarding their arms export policy to Turkey.” That's not quite an EU-wide arms embargo. “We have left to member states the commitment to do it because this can be done with immediate effect,” Luigi Di Maio, the foreign minister of Italy, told reporters at the end of the meeting.

The impact is expected to be the same as a ban. Member states will no longer sell weapons to Turkey and there will be no need for long, technical meetings at EU level in order to put in place an embargo, diplomats say. Germany, France, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands have already brought in their own bans.

The move came after Turkey launched an incursion into northern Syria last week in a bid to drive Syrian Kurdish fighters, whom Ankara considers to be terrorists, away from the Syrian-Turkish border. The operation has already displaced some 100,000 people, according to the United Nations.

It is also a reaction to criticism that the EU has little leverage when dealing with Turkey — the bloc relies on Ankara to help manage migration — and that without military power, the EU cannot properly defend its interests.

“The U.S withdrawal from Syria and the Turkish offensive have once again demonstrated Europe’s geopolitical weakness,” liberal MEP Guy Verhofstadt said in a tweet. Turkey and Russia “decide on our safety. Europe must take its destiny into its own hands by building a real Defense Union.”

Drilling decision

The EU foreign ministers also agreed that “a framework regime" of "restrictive measures" targeting those "responsible for or involved in the illegal drilling activity of hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean is put in place,” inviting Mogherini and the Commission “to swiftly present proposals to this effect.”

Turkey responded late on Monday, with its foreign ministry issuing a statement condemning the EU's decisions on both the drilling activity and the Syria incursion.

"It is unacceptable that the EU displays a protective approach towards terrorist elements," the foreign ministry said, adding: "We invite the EU ... to self-criticism and common sense regarding their responsibilities on the course of today’s events."

The foreign ministry also called EU plans to draw up a sanctions framework over Turkey's drilling off Cyprus "totally unacceptable," adding that the EU had become a "hostage of the Greek side on the Cyprus issue" and was "disregarding" Turkish Cypriots.

The statement concluded: "We will seriously reconsider our cooperation with the EU on certain areas due to its unlawful and biased stance."

EU leaders are expected to discuss Turkey at a summit in Brussels on Thursday, where they will debate the overall line to take with Ankara.

On Sunday, the Syrian Kurds struck a deal with the Moscow-backed Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, handing over control of several towns in exchange for protection from Turkey.

That's prompted concern among Ankara's allies over a potential confrontation between Syrian forces and Turkey, a NATO member.

“Turkey is part of NATO and since this morning there is a coalition between Assad and the Kurds. This means that a NATO member [Turkey] will stand against Assad who is still the de facto president of Syria,” said Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn on his way into Monday's meeting.

Ankara, for its part, has shrugged off any concerns, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan saying that Russia has shown a "positive approach."

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called on Erdoğan “to act with restraint and in coordination with other allies” to avoid undermining NATO’s efforts in recent years to fight the Islamic State.

Asselborn also criticized the U.S. decision to withdraw its troops from the area, which in effect green-lighted the Turkish military operation. “We are facing a phenomenon that has appeared following Erdoğan's talks with [U.S. President Donald] Trump and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and was given the green light,” he said.

On the insistence of France, the EU ministers urged Washington to call for “a ministerial meeting of the International Coalition against Daesh [the Arabic acronym for Islamic State] in order to address how to pursue its efforts in the current context.”

The U.S., meanwhile, issued sanctions on Turkey on Monday, doubling steel tariffs and canceling negotiations for a trade deal. It also slapped sanctions on the Turkish defense and energy ministries, as well as the ministers for defense, energy and interior.

NATO unease

The situation along the Turkish-Syrian border poses real problems for NATO, which finds itself obligated to support Turkey, as a member of the alliance, even as other allies, including the European Union, criticize Ankara.

In her final press conference in Luxembourg, Mogherini pointed out NATO's discomfort. She said that being part of the alliance is not a problem for the EU members who are also part of NATO but “that it might be complicated for NATO to handle a situation like this.”

And it is.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that he recognizes Turkey’s “legitimate security concerns” but also called on Erdoğan “to act with restraint and in coordination with other allies” to avoid undermining NATO’s efforts in recent years to fight the Islamic State.

“Turkey has legitimate security concerns,” Stoltenberg said in London, where he addressed a meeting of the NATO parliamentary assembly. “No other ally has suffered more terrorist attacks. No other ally is more exposed to the instability, violence and turmoil from the Middle East. And no other ally hosts so many refugees from Syria.”

“Nevertheless,” he continued, “I expect Turkey to act with restraint and in coordination with other allies so that we can preserve the gains we have made against our common enemy — Daesh [ISIS]. A few years ago, Daesh controlled significant territory in Iraq and Syria. Working together in the Global Coalition, we have liberated all this territory and millions of people. These gains must not be jeopardized.”

David Herszenhorn contributed reporting.