U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has urged Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko "to do his part to avoid escalating tensions" with Russia over Crimea, the White House said.
Biden and Poroshenko in a phone call on August 12 discussed the recent tensions over the occupation of the peninsula by Russian forces, which the White House said was "in contravention of international law."
While Biden asked Poroshenko to show restraint, the White House said he had also asked the Russian side to do the same.
"Both leaders reiterated their strong support for political and diplomatic means to restore Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, in particular through full implementation of the Minsk agreements," which laid down a path toward peace between Ukraine, Russia, and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Biden and Poroshenko also discussed Ukraine's progress in fulfilling conditions laid down by the International Monetary Fund, which still has not resumed lending to the embattled nation.
They agreed Ukraine's anticorruption efforts would be important to secure further loans, the White House said.
