NNA - The United States on Thursday called on China to use its influence with Russia to urge a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis, but policy experts doubted Beijing would back Washington in the standoff.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Beijing said it wanted all sides to remain calm and "refrain from doing things that agitate tensions and hype up the crisis."

Blinken stressed that tensions should be reduced and warned of the security and economic risks from any Russian aggression, the State Department said.

Blinken stressed that tensions should be reduced and warned of the security and economic risks from any Russian aggression, the State Department said.

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said U.S. messages to Beijing had been very clear.

"We are calling on Beijing to use its influence with Moscow to urge diplomacy, because if there is a conflict in the Ukraine it is not going to be good for China either," Nuland said at a regular State Department news conference. "There will be a significant impact on the global economy. There will be a significant impact in the energy sphere."

China's U.N. ambassador Zhang Jun said a "time-honored Olympic Truce" for the Beijing Winter Games that begin on Feb. 4 would start from Jan. 28.

"Let's take this opportunity to promote peace, solidarity, cooperation, and other common values shared by all humanity, to make our world a better place," Zhang tweeted.

Russia has been building up its forces on Ukraine's borders for months and has demanded NATO pull troops and weapons from eastern Europe and bar Ukraine, a former Soviet state, from ever joining the U.S.-led military alliance.--Reuters 

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