WARSAW, June 4 - U.S. President Barack Obama endorsed Ukraine's president-elect Petro Poroshenko on Wednesday, offering Kiev financial and security help and saying he was the right choice to lead the country through its stand-off with Moscow, Reuters reported.

With the death toll mounting from fighting between Kiev's forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, Obama met Poroshenko for the first time since his election last month and said he was impressed with what he found.

"What Ukrainians said in the elections is that they reject that path. They reject violence," and want the opportunity to determine their own future, Obama told reporters after meeting Poroshenko in the Polish capital.

"That's the hope that President Poroshenko represents," Obama said. "In my discussions with him today it's clear he understands the hopes and aspirations of the Ukrainian people."

Obama described Poroshenko as a "wise selection" by the Ukrainian people and said: "I have been deeply impressed by his vision."

Poroshenko, a billionaire confectionary magnate who now takes over a country in deep crisis, told reporters he was preparing to unveil a plan for "the peaceful resolution of the situation in the east" soon after his inauguration on Saturday.

He said a gathering of world leaders in Normandy, France, on Friday to mark the 70th anniversary of the World War Two D-Day landings would be crucial for the plan.

Obama, Russia's Vladimir Putin, and Poroshenko will all be at the Normandy commemorations - the first time they have been in the same location since the crisis in Ukraine began - though there is no plan at the moment for them to have a meeting.

"Exactly in Normandy we can start to find out this peaceful process in Ukraine," Poroshenko said in English.

Poroshenko won a landslide victory on May 25 to fill the office left vacant after a pro-Russian president fled an uprising in late February, the start of a crisis that saw Moscow seize Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and pro-Russian separatists rise up in Ukraine's east.

In the days since Poroshenko was elected, Ukraine has ramped up a crackdown against pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country, leading to the heaviest fighting of the conflict.

The White House said in a statement that Obama had approved an additional $23 million in defense and security assistance to Ukraine since early March, including $5 million for "the provision of body armor, night vision goggles, and additional communications equipment.”

Critics who advocate a stronger response say the sums are token amounts given the severe shortcomings of Ukraine's military, and note that Washington has not offered lethal aid. (rt/ez)