Russia's Putin says Kiev on 'dead-end track' in east Ukraine

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Kiev must stop its military operation in east Ukraine and cease exerting economic pressure on rebel-held regions, warning that it was on a "dead-end track fraught with ... catastrophe".

In a newspaper interview before a planned summit with the leaders of France and Germany in Minsk on Wednesday, Putin showed no sign of softening his stance over the Ukraine crisis.