Joe Biden, Petro Poroshenko press Russia to influence separatists on ceasefire

US Vice President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pressed Moscow on Friday to influence pro-Russian separatists to take part in a ceasefire and give investigators access to the downed Malaysian jetliner on Ukraine's territory.  "They ... agreed that as the party responsible for arming the separatists, Russia needed to publicly call on the separatists to lay down their weapons and grant immediate access to international and Ukrainian investigators," the White House said in a statement about a call between the two leaders.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Eric Beech)