(BRUSSELS) - The European Union urged Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela Tuesday to avoid any escalation amid rising tensions in Latin America sparked by a Colombian military strike against rebels in Ecuador.

"The European Union is concerned about the growing tension and the deployment of armed forces between Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia," the EU's Slovenian presidency said in a statement.

"It urges all parties involved to show restraint and to avoid any further escalation of the current situation.

"The European Union encourages all countries involved to seek, through dialogue, a political solution," the statement said.

The crisis between the three nations worsened Tuesday when Venezuela said it was closing its border with Colombia, even as frantic diplomatic talks to stave off war were about to begin.

This aggravated the stand-off between Colombia and leftwing neighbours Venezuela and Ecuador, which was triggered by a Colombian raid inside Ecuador to kill a commander of the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

In response, Venezuela and Ecuador ordered thousands of troops to their borders with Colombia, and Bogota's ambassadors out of their countries amid sharpening rhetoric.

An emergency session of the 34-member Organization of American States was to take place in Washington later Tuesday in a bid to quell the rising tensions.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is scheduled to hold talks Wednesday in Brussels with Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos Calderon.

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