A summit between the EU and Russia has ended with Vladimir Putin warning against foreign interference in Ukraine.

EU leaders, however, tried to paper over their differences with Kremlin officials.

The president of the European Commission said: “I think we need to change the perception that one region’s gain is another region’s pain. We in the EU are against the mentality of bloc against bloc.”

Russian president Putin suggested the EU had unduly interfered in Ukraine’s internal affairs.

“The more intermediaries there are, the more problems there are,” he said. “Theses states (our common neighbours) are trying to cooperate more actively with the EU and at the same to maintain close historical and cooperative ties with Russia. No doubt we should help them to do this, but to create new lines of division is not acceptable.”

EU officials declined to comment however on whether they supported fresh elections in Ukraine.