BEIJING:  China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has rebuffed the US call to G7 countries to impose tariffs on countries purchasing oil from Russia, saying that war cannot solve problems and “sanctions only complicate them”.

“China does not participate in or plan wars, and what China does is to encourage peace talks and promote political settlement of hotspot issues through dialogue,” Wang Yi said in an apparent reference to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s call to G7 ministers to impose sanctions on countries importing oil from Russia to stop the Ukraine war.

A US Treasury Department statement said on Saturday that Treasury Secretary Bessent during a call with G7 finance ministers, reiterated President Donald Trump’s call to G7 countries that if they are truly committed to ending the war in Ukraine, they should join the US in imposing tariffs on countries purchasing oil from Russia.