WARSAW, Poland (AP) — President Barack Obama says Ukraine can be a vibrant, thriving democracy if the United States and the international community stand behind it.

Obama is speaking after meeting with Ukraine's President-elect Petro Poroshenko in Warsaw, Poland. It's Obama's first private meeting with the man he hopes can guide Ukraine out of crisis.

Obama says Ukrainians rejected violence and corruption and chose democracy in their presidential election. He's praising Poroshenko for reaching out the country's restive east.

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