DEAUVILLE, France, June 6 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he welcomed plans put forward by Ukrainian president-elect Petro Poroshenko, with whom he had a brief initial meeting earlier, to stop the violence in Ukraine.
However, he also said Ukraine must stop what he called a "punitive" military operation in its southeast region and warned Russia would retaliate with measures to protect its economy if Kiev signed an association pact with the European Union. (Reporting by Alexei Anishchuk; Editing by Mark John and James Regan)
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