A Ukrainian child walks past tents that have been set up for the Ukrainian refugees, inside the train station in Bucharest, Romania on March 21, 2022. (ARMEND NIMANI / AFP)
WASHINGTON – Washington and Beijing can and need cooperate to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict despite their different approaches, the Chinese embassy in Washington has said.
Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said 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
"I believe that China and the US can cooperate on the Ukraine issue," Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the embassy, told reporters at a virtual press briefing on Wednesday.
Liu said although China and the United States have different positions on and approaches to the Ukraine issue, the two sides "need to cooperate."
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To forge that cooperation, Liu said that the "blame game" should stop and the "accusations" should be solved, and that China has been telling the United States 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.
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"They have their concerns," 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."