Cameron 
warning as Ukraine 
forces exit key town

He spoke out after the Ukraine has pulled most of its troops out of the key battleground of Debaltseve, where fighting raged with heavy weapons despite a ceasefire agreement.

Speaking during a visit to West Sussex, Mr Cameron made clear that Mr Poroshenko’s agreement of a ceasefire deal with Russian president Vladimir Putin last week should not be the trigger to wind down EU sanctions against Russia.

Mr Cameron said: “Of course there’s a temptation for every European country just to say ‘Let’s go on trading exactly as we have done with Russia, let’s leave responsibility for what is happening in Ukraine to someone else and let’s turn away’.

“I am afraid that would be a terrible mistake and Britain has been leading the argument in Europe saying Russia’s behaviour in Ukraine has been completely unacceptable and consequences must follow that in terms of sanctions.”

Mr Cameron said Europe could not “turn a blind eye” to events in Ukraine, where he said “effectively one country is challenging the territorial integrity of another country”.

“Those Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine, they are using Russian rocket launchers, Russian tanks, Russian artillery, you can’t buy this equipment on eBay, it hasn’t come from somewhere else, it’s come from Russia and we know that,” he said.