European Council President Donald Tusk has said he believes that the EU's response has not been quite effective since the beginning of the events on Independence Square in Kyiv in November 2014.

"For over a year now – from Maidan to the Minsk ceasefire and beyond… – the European Council's response has been event-driven," he said after the European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday.

However, he said he was confident that for a more effective response to the situation Europe needs to develop a strategy towards Russia.

Tusk said that the biggest challenge today was Russia's approach and that the EU's approach must be pragmatic.

He said that the EU did need any radical ideology and that the summit discussion had been "practical" and "pragmatic," as Russia's behavior needs a pragmatic reaction.

He said that Europe should have a common position with respect to the events in Ukraine.

Tusk also said that today European countries had no doubt that Russia's aggressive reaction to Ukraine had been triggered by Kyiv's decision to sign an association agreement with the EU.

He said that during the debate the EU leaders had also discussed the need to provide financial assistance to Ukraine, as well as issues of humanitarian aid, especially to people affected by the situation in the east of the country.