Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg says David Cameron's veto of EU treaty changes was "bad for Britain" and could leave it "isolated and marginalised".
But he blamed French and German "intransigence" and pressure from eurosceptic Conservatives for putting the PM in "a very difficult position".Initially Mr Clegg said the coalition was united over the use of the veto.
But he told the BBC he had "made it clear" to Mr Cameron it was "untenable" for him to welcome the move.
Sources close to Mr Clegg have told the BBC he "couldn't believe it" when he was told the summit in Brussels had "spectacularly unravelled".
The prime minister blocked changes to the EU's Lisbon Treaty at an EU summit, arguing that the proposed changes were not in the UK's interest.
It now looks likely that all 26 other members of the European Union will agree to a new "accord" setting out tougher budget rules aimed at preventing a repeat of the current eurozone crisis.
Analysis
But when he did go in front of the cameras he said the two men had worked together on Britain's negotiating stance. The demands were reasonable, he said.
Now his tone has changed - considerably. Europe was already a source of tension in the coalition - with the two parties holding such contrasting views. This will add to that.
The prime minister will be preparing a statement which he is due to give to Parliament on Monday - explaining why he wouldn't sign up to a new EU-wide treaty.
He'll no doubt hear praise from Eurosceptics, on his own side. But sitting next to him will be a deputy who has now attacked him in the press over a summit that he thinks has left the UK isolated and vulnerable.
The Independent on Sunday quotes a source "close to Mr Clegg", as saying: "Nick certainly doesn't think this is a good deal for Britain, for British jobs or British growth.
"It leaves us isolated in Europe and that is not in our national interest. Nick's fear is that we become the lonely man of Europe."He could not believe that Cameron hadn't tried to play for more time. That is not how Nick would have played Britain's hand."
The paper also quotes a Lib Dem source who says that if the Conservatives "think we can now go back to Europe with a sackful of demands about repatriating powers, they are living in a fantasy world".
On Friday, Mr Clegg said in a statement he "regretted" that agreement had not been reached between all 27 EU members.
But he said: "The demands Britain made for safeguards, on which the coalition government was united, were modest and reasonable."
Mr Clegg said he had been "consulted throughout" the 10 hours of unsuccessful negotiations in Brussels - a claim backed up by Foreign Secretary William Hague.
He told the BBC the Lib Dem leader was fully "signed up" to the decision to veto the proposed treaty.
'Collective decision' Meanwhile, Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable told the Sunday Telegraph Britain had "finished in a bad place" at the EU summit.
He said CBI director general John Cridland, who questioned whether the UK would be able to stop new financial regulations, had given a "good assessment".
But he told the paper: "I am not criticising the prime minister personally. Our policy was a collective decision by the coalition."
Former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown told the Observer the veto had "tipped 38 years of British foreign policy down the drain", but the coalition government must survive.
Ken Clarke, the Justice Secretary and a long-time europhile, told BBC Radio Nottingham: "It's a disappointing, very surprising outcome.
"There will be a big statement made by the prime minister on Monday where I shall be sitting listening, and I shall be discussing what we are going to do now."But Mr Hague insisted Mr Cameron had done the "right thing for Britain".
He told the Sunday Telegraph: "We did not go to Brussels seeking a row... But it is better to have no change to the EU treaties than a change that did not protect our interests."
On Saturday Chancellor George Osborne said Mr Cameron's decision to veto changes to the treaty had "helped protect Britain's economic interests".
"We have protected Britain's financial services, and manufacturing companies that need to be able to trade their businesses, their products, into Europe," he said.
"We've protected all these industries from the development of eurozone integration spilling over and affecting the non-euro members of the European Union."
Labour leader Ed Miliband has said the UK will now be excluded from key economic decisions in Europe, while UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage has said the outcome was "the worst of all worlds" for the UK, leaving the country in Europe but without power.
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