The UK and the EU have been accused
of a "catastrophic misreading" of the mood in the Kremlin in the run-up
to the crisis in Ukraine.
The House of Lords EU committee claimed Europe "sleepwalked" into the crisis.
The EU had not realised the depth of Russian hostility to its plans for closer relations with Ukraine, it said.
It
comes as French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor
Angela Merkel spoke about the crisis at a joint news conference in
Paris.
Prime Minister David Cameron said blame for what had
happened in Ukraine "lies absolutely squarely with Vladimir Putin and
Russia".
Ill-equipped
The committee's report said Britain had not been "active or visible enough" in dealing with the situation in Ukraine.
It blamed Foreign Office cuts, which it said led to fewer Russian experts working there, and less emphasis on analysis.
A
similar decline in EU foreign ministries had left them ill-equipped to
formulate an "authoritative response" to the crisis, it said.
The
report claimed that for too long the EU's relationship with Moscow had
been based on the "optimistic premise" that Russia was on a trajectory
to becoming a democratic country.
The result, it said, was a
failure to appreciate the depth of Russian hostility when the EU opened
talks aimed at establishing an "association agreement" with Ukraine in
2013.
Mr Cameron rejected claims Britain "sleepwalked" into the crisis in Ukraine.
He
said: "What we need to do now is deliver the strongest possible message
to Putin and to Russia that what has happened is unacceptable.
"These ceasefires need to hold and if they don't, there'll be more consequences, more sanctions, more measures."
Meanwhile
Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande said the Minsk agreements should be
implemented and the ceasefire observed between Ukrainian forces and
pro-Russian rebels.
Mr Hollande said: "With the [German]
Chancellor we have never stopped speaking since the [September 2014]
Minsk agreements and we are more convinced than ever that they must be
applied - all the agreements, nothing but the agreements."
Mrs Merkel said the EU "could raise the issue of sanctions" if needed.
The report also follows comments from Defence Secretary Michael
Fallon, who has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin poses a "real
and present danger" to three Baltic states.
He was speaking after RAF jets were scrambled to escort two Russian military aircraft seen off the Cornwall coast on Wednesday.
Elsewhere,
shelling was reported in several parts of eastern Ukraine on Thursday,
including around the rebel-held city of Donetsk.
The Ukraine
crisis began in November 2013 when pro-Moscow President Viktor
Yanukovych's government abandoned the EU agreement in favour of stronger
ties with Russia - prompting mass protests that eventually led to his
downfall.
Subsequent unrest in Ukraine's peninsula of Crimea led
to its annexation by Russia - which is accused by the West of stoking
further conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces in
the east of the country.
'Unjustifiable and illegal'
Committee chairman Lord Tugendhat said: "The lack of robust
analytical capacity, in both the UK and the EU, effectively led to a
catastrophic misreading of the mood in the run-up to the crisis."
The
UK had a particular responsibility to Ukraine because it was one of
four signatories to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum which pledged to
respect Ukraine's territorial integrity, the committee said.
Neither Britain nor the EU had a strategic response on how to handle Russia for the long term, it added.
A
Foreign Office spokeswoman said no-one could have predicted the scale
of the "unjustifiable and illegal" Russian intervention and it was for
the people of Ukraine to decide on its relationship with the EU.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander said it was "vital" the EU
had a "united approach" and that the UK government helped to find a
"diplomatic resolution" to the conflict.
Sir Andrew Wood, former
British ambassador to Russia, agreed with the report's assessment,
calling the situation a "dangerous moment" because Russia's frustrations
could overspill into other areas, with increasing pressure on Baltic
states.
Media captionGen Sir Adrian Bradshaw on Nato "integration units"
During
a speech in London, Nato's military chief in Europe, Gen Sir Adrian
Bradshaw, referred to plans to build Nato force integration units in
eastern Europe to respond to potential new threats against Nato states
in eastern Europe.
He said they would "send a strong signal", and help support eastern members in an era of "constant competition" with Russia.
Nato's
information and warning system will focus on a "range of hybrid
threats" including cyber attacks and political agitation, he said.
'Deep concern'
Meanwhile, a Downing Street statement said European Council president
Mr Tusk and Mr Cameron had expressed "deep concern" that Russian-backed
separatists continued to attack Debaltseve, despite the ceasefire
agreement that came into effect on Sunday.
Media captionThe BBC's Paul Adam's reports from Debaltseve's deserted central street
It
said both leaders had agreed European member states must review the
EU's response to the crisis, and should make clear to Russia that
pro-Russian rebels must abide by the ceasefire.
The European
Council is made up of the heads of the 28 EU member states and it sets
the EU's overall political direction and priorities.
The US has also said it is "deeply troubled" by reports of continued fighting in eastern Ukraine.
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