BEIJING, September 01./ITAR-TASS/. The crisis in Ukraine demands a political resolution and the EU sanctions on Russia can only deteriorate the situation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Monday.

“Sanctions cannot help solve the Ukrainian problem cardinally. On the contrary, they can create new complicated problems,” Qin Gang said, adding “There are different positions in the EU on sanctions against Russia.”

The priority is that all parties “showed calm and restraint and refrained from the actions that could escalate violence and aggravate disagreements”, he said.

China called for immediately ceasing fire in Ukraine and searching for a political resolution of the crisis, the spokesman said.

He expressed hope for the success of the upcoming meeting of the contact group on Ukraine (Russia-OSCE-Ukraine) due to be held in Belarus.