China, US need to cooperate on Russia-Ukraine conflict: Chinese diplomat

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Instead of imposing unilateral sanctions, the US may need a better way to reach out to all parties, according to China.

PHOTO: REUTERS

WASHINGTON (XINHUA) - Washington and Beijing can and need to cooperate to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict despite their different approaches, the Chinese embassy in Washington has said.
"I believe that China and the US can cooperate on the Ukraine issue," Mr Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the embassy, told reporters at a virtual press briefing on Wednesday (March 23).
Mr Liu said although China and the United States have different positions on and approaches to the Ukraine issue, the two sides "need to cooperate".
To forge that cooperation, Mr Liu said that the "blame game" should stop and the "accusations" should be solved, and that China has been telling the US that instead of imposing unilateral sanctions - which China opposes to - they may need a better way to reach out to all parties.
"The immediate outcome" must be "to solve the crisis now, because we have to stop the loss as soon as possible, and we don't want the situation to escalate to the extent that we cannot control", he said.
The conflict should be ended in such a way where Russia and Ukraine come to "the middle way" and reach an agreement through negotiation, he said.
"They have their concerns," Mr Liu added. "If the concerns have been addressed, I think they could end the military action, and then they go back to the negotiating table."
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