BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden is commending Ukraine’s new president for his commitment to move ahead with his peace plan and for further steps taken to unify the embattled country.

The White House says Biden was in Bogota on Wednesday when he spoke by phone to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The new president of Ukraine is proposing a unilateral cease-fire after two months of fighting and promises a safe exit for pro-Russian armed separatists.

In his phone call, Biden emphasized that leaders of the Group of Seven nations have clearly called for Russia to stop the flow of weapons and militants across the border with Ukraine and to exercise its influence among the separatists to lay down their weapons and renounce violence.

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