Alienating Russia with tougher sanctions threatens to prolong the crisis in Ukraine and spread a humanitarian disaster far beyond its borders, a senior official from China's embassy in London has said.

Speaking at an event organized by the Society for Anglo Chinese Understanding (SACU), Minister Counsellor Wang Qi warned against the harm caused by 'weaponizing' the global economy.

"The entire world should not be held hostage, the ordinary people around the world should not be made to pay," he told the online discussion. "The global economy must not be politicized and used as a tool or even a weapon in this crisis, as this would trigger a more serious crisis in global finance, trade, energy, science, technology, food security and industrial supply chains."

The disruption caused by the conflict has already pushed energy prices to record highs, fueling inflation not seen in generations in many European countries and warnings of a cost-of-living crisis. 

In addition, it has dramatically reduced food exports from two of the world's biggest producers of staples like wheat, both pushing up prices and threatening shortages in the most import-dependent nations in Africa and the Middle East.

Wang set out China's position that dialogue is the only way to resolve the crisis and the sooner talks can be advanced, the sooner a recovery will begin.

British journalist and academic John Gittings urged the UK, which has clashed with Beijing over how to respond to Russia's actions, to work together with China to find a way to end the carnage.

Globally important issues are being sidelined as world leaders focus exclusively on the battle over Ukraine, he warned.

"We really face two choices: one is that the West is going to supply Ukraine with even more lethal weapons in order to prolong the war, and with all its dangers – its nuclear dangers and other dangers – we haven't even considered the knock-on effects on the other existential crises affecting the world.

"We no longer talk about the pandemic; we talk much less about climate change," he told the audience at the event, entitled "China and the Ukraine Crisis".

The alternative, he said, is to spend all our efforts to end the war. Ukrainian politicians and many in the UK and U.S. directly dispute this interpretation. 

Speaking to CGTN at the World Economic Forum this week, Ukrainian MP Yevheniya Kravchuk said that the only way to end the conflict is to support Kyiv to defeat Vladimir Putin's forces. Any other result would only be temporary, she said.

Nuclear threat

The stakes could not be higher, according to a third speaker at the event, Victor Gao, vice president of the Center for China and Globalization, who warned that the situation could broaden into a nuclear war that would wipe out mankind.

"We are truly at a inflection point. We cannot wait more time.... I personally believe the world of today has all the ingredients for a major conflagration into the Third World War, and no one will be saved if the Third World War hits us," Gao said.

However, he added that a far more positive outcome was also possible, if Ukraine, rather than joining one bloc or another can find a position of neutrality to become a bridge between east and west. It could follow the economic development example of China to build an economy and society based around its strengths in the coming decades, he said.

"If China can do this tremendous amount of transformation in the matter of 43, 44 years, Ukraine can make huge achievements in a matter of a century, given its geographical position, its riches of resources, and the high level of intelligence of the people, and really the commitment of the people to peace and stability," he told the SACU event.