The African Union called on Sudan to stop its aerial bombardment of South Sudan and for both countries to cease hostilities, as an uneasy calm settled over the south Wednesday.

The African Union Peace and Security Council issued a communique with a seven-point roadmap calling for a halt to the fighting and giving Sudan and South Sudan two weeks to restart negotiations which broke down earlier this month. It gave the two nations three months to complete negotiations.

The AU also said Sudan and South Sudan should withdraw their forces from the disputed border region, keep their troops within their borders and stop supporting rebel groups in the other nation. It demanded the two neighboring countries stop issuing inflammatory statements and propaganda that could escalate the conflict. The AU also asked the U.N. Security Council to endorse the roadmap.

South Sudan won independence from Sudan last year as part of a 2005 peace treaty that ended decades of war that killed 2 million people. The two countries have drawn closer to a full-scale war in recent weeks over the unresolved issues of oil revenues and their disputed border.

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and the current Security Council president, told reporters after a meeting on Sudan late Tuesday that members had just seen the AU communique and would be consulting their governments.

Speaking for the United States, she called it “a positive and constructive contribution’’ and said the U.S. will be consulting with council members “about their readiness and willingness to contemplate next steps that reflect the thrust of the AU communique.’’

In a move that might ease tensions, South Sudan released 13 captured Sudanese soldiers. On their way home, the released soldiers stopped late Wednesday in Egypt, which mediated their release, Egyptian Foreign Ministry official Mohammed Morsi said. The freed soldiers were accompanied by Red Cross staffers.