The two sides constantly blame each other for shelling civilian areas - this one on the outskirts of Donetsk

Western countries had broken pledges not to expand Nato and forced countries to choose between them and Russia, Mr Putin told an Egyptian newspaper.

The comments come amid new hopes of a peace deal this Wednesday.

Russia denies accusations of sending troops and supplying the rebels.

The fighting in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 5,300 lives and driven 1.5 million people from their homes.

At least nine Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the past 24 hours, officials say.

Fighting is said to be intense around the town of Debaltseve, near the rebel-held city of Donetsk.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande flew to Moscow on Friday to discuss proposals to end the fighting.

The detailed proposals have not been released but the plan is thought to include a demilitarised zone of 50-70km (31-44 miles) around the current front line.

After telephone conversations with Mr Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Sunday, they announced that a four-way summit could be held in the Belarus capital, Minsk, if the details were agreed before Wednesday.

Mr Putin's spokesman denied media speculation that Mrs Merkel had told the Russian leader that sanctions would be tightened if he did not agree a deal.

"Nobody has ever talked to the president in the tone of an ultimatum - and could not do so even if they wanted to," Dmitry Peskov told Govorit Moskva radio on Monday.

European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed more sanctions against Russian and rebel officials on Monday - but put them on hold for a week to give the peace effort a chance.

Mrs Merkel is due to brief US President Barack Obama in Washington later on Monday on the peace plan as the US considers sending weapons to the Ukrainian government.

There is pressure in Washington on President Obama to adopt a tougher stance, the BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan reports from the US capital.

Some officials, as well as senior Republicans such as Senator John McCain, argue that some form of military support is necessary, our correspondent adds.

But Mrs Merkel told a security conference at the weekend that she could not "imagine any situation in which improved equipment for the Ukrainian army leads to President Putin being so impressed that he believes he will lose militarily".

US Secretary of State John Kerry has denied any rift with EU leaders, saying, "I keep hearing people trying to create one. We are united, we are working closely together."

'Artificial choice'

At the start of a visit to Egypt, President Putin renewed his attack on Western countries for their "hollow" promises not to expand Nato to include former Soviet countries, and therefore ignoring Russian interests.

There had been attempts, Mr Putin told Egypt's al-Ahram newspaper, "to tear states which had been parts of the former USSR [Soviet Union] off Russia and to prompt them to make an artificial choice 'between Russia and Europe'.

He went on to accuse them of supporting a "coup d'etat in Kiev" - a reference to the ousting of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych last year.

He lost power amid protests over his decision to scrap a deal that would have seen Ukraine establish closer ties with the European Union.

Since then, Russia has annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula and rebels in the east have sought to establish full control over the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.