"[Together] with the European Union leaders the Vice President [Biden] discussed the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP), policies to promote economic growth, energy security, countering violent extremism, and data privacy," the release issued Friday read.
Biden also discussed bilateral counterterrorism cooperation and Belgium's contributions to the coalition against Islamic State with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande held talks in Moscow on a new plan for settling the Ukrainian crisis.
Despite the ceasefire agreement reached by the independence supporters and Kiev in 2014, the military clashes intensified in southeastern Ukraine in the first weeks of this year. The warring sides traded blame for numerous civilian deaths.
The situation in the southeast of Ukraine deteriorated dramatically in the beginning of 2015, despite a ceasefire agreement signed at peace talks in Minsk, Belarus, in September 2014.
