8.29am BST George Osborne has warned that further sanctions will be considered against Russia if it fails to co-operate over access to the MH17 crash site.
Indeed, if they could only co-operate over the environment, they might just find the territorial disputes easier to settle, too.
With this help they could co-operate over the care of the child, help to heal the wounds inflicted by one of the most stressful events we can experience and get on with their lives.
It was built in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union when the US and Russia, until then bitter rivals, agreed to co-operate over space exploration.
It might have been hoped, for example, that the respective leaders of India and Pakistan could co-operate over humanitarian efforts, perhaps that collaboration in disaster relief could lead to warmer ties in general.
In Spain, the trial began of 29 people suspected of involvement in the 2004 Madrid train-bombings.George Bush said Russia and America could still co-operate over many things despite an angry speech by Vladimir Putin, who denounced American militarism at a conference in Munich.
And the Greek-Cypriot reaction to recent Turkish maritime provocations seems to be blinding them to the hard fact that the gasfields will bring real benefits to the peoples of the island only if they can co-operate over their development, including with Turkey.
China and Taiwan have not co-operated over territory since the two sides split in 1949 after the Chinese civil war.The island of Pingtan stirs troubled memories in Taiwan.
Although much of the world has co-operated over North Korea and Iran, everyone is competing over India and Pakistan to make things worse (see article).China's reactor deal with Pakistan has incensed India and alarmed others.
And although the government and rebels are co-operating over the delivery of aid in both Indonesia and Sri Lanka, there is little prospect of a lasting settlement in either country.Meanwhile, the repercussions of the tragedy continue to spread.
Hence the notion, aired recently by veteran American diplomats such as Ryan Crocker, that the least bad course would now be to talk to Mr Assad, with whom the West has already been co-operating over the removal of his chemical weapons.It is not yet clear who, in any event, will represent Syria's opposition at Geneva.
