WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke by phone on Friday with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and urged him "to do his part" to avoid escalating tensions with Russia, the White House said.

Biden noted that the United States has urged the Russian side to do the same, the White House said in a statement. Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of trying to provoke a conflict over Crimea, which Moscow seized and annexed in 2014.

(Reporting by Eric Beech)