No political agreement was reached at the EU's top level after leaders met in Brussels

A highly-anticipated gathering of EU leaders ended on Monday without a political agreement on the appointment of the EU's top posts.

It was the first physical meeting between the leaders since the European elections, with hopes that the 27 could make progress on the delicate task of sharing the roles of European Commission president, European Council president and high representative for foreign affairs.

But the council's current president, Charles Michel, told reporters at midnight that “no deal has been reached”, insisting that leaders had accepted their “duty” to reach a decision by the end of June.

“They're going to have to work very hard to make sure there's a deal,” Michel said.

Diplomats had earlier expressed hope that a political deal could be reached on Monday ahead of a formal EU summit on June 27-28. Support for Ursula von der Leyen's second term as European Commission has grown, with former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa emerging as the favorite for the European Council presidency and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas for the top diplomatic role of High Representative.

Earlier in the night, the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) revealed a hidden card, bidding to split the next two 2.5-year terms of the European Council between the Socialists and themselves.

With the EPP's main candidate von der Leyen in pole position to secure a second term at the helm of the EU executive and Roberta Metsola – also EPP – the favorite to continue as President of the European Parliament, the hypothetical scenario would see the EPP in three of the four top jobs in Brussels at some point.

Catch up on Monday's informal summit on the blog below.