Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of acting like a "mid-20th century tyrant" over Ukraine as he said the UK's bar on supplying weapons to Kiev would be "kept under review".
His comments to Sky's Murnaghan programme came as US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted there was no split with Europe over handling the crisis.
President Barack Obama is considering sending arms to the Ukraine government, which has been rejected by Germany's Angela Merkel, who argued it would not help the situation.
Mr Hammond told Murnaghan: "Britain's position is that at the moment we do no think that supplying arms is the right thing to do but obviously if the situation on the ground changes we'll keep that position under review."
And he insisted Western sanctions were having an impact.
Mr Hammond said: "When coupled with the catastrophic effect on the Russian economy of the decline in the oil price they are putting pressure on the Kremlin.
"Putin is toughing this out but we all know in the end the economic facts cannot be ignored.
"If your economy is cratering you cannot support the kind of foreign adventures Putin is undertaking.
"He will have to trim his behaviour to reflect the decline in the Russian economy."
The Foreign Secretary branded Moscow's annexation of Crimea illegal and said it must be reversed.
He said: "This man has sent troops across an international border and occupied another country's territory in the 21st century acting like some mid-20th century tyrant. Civilised nations do not behave like that."
"We do not see any reason to tolerate this kind of outrageous and outdated behaviour from the Kremlin."
Mr Putin is to discuss a peace plan for eastern Ukraine in a phone call with the French, German and Ukrainian leaders later.
Mrs Merkel and Mr Hollande are leading diplomatic efforts to halt the bloody conflict, which has claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people since April.
At the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Mrs Merkel said the bid to end the fighting was "uncertain but worth trying", while Mr Hollande also warned it was "one of the last chances for peace".
The diplomatic push comes against an escalation in violence between the separatists and Ukrainian forces in the east of the country.
In the latest fighting, the Ukrainian military said the pro-Russian separatists had increased shelling of government forces and appeared to be amassing for new offensives on the key railway town of Debaltseve and the coastal city of Mariupol.
Mrs Merkel's opposition to arming Ukraine has led to a sharp rebuke from hawks in Washington, who have accused Berlin of turning its back on an ally.
Republican US Senator John McCain said: "The Ukrainians are being slaughtered and we're sending them blankets and meals. Blankets don't do well against Russian tanks."
However, Mr Kerry denied any rift with Europe.
"We are united in our diplomacy," he said.
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