Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said on Saturday that “China does not participate in wars or plot them”, responding to US calls for allies to impose tariffs on Russian oil buyers, including China.
President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the Russia-Ukraine conflict could end if all NATO countries halted Russian oil imports and imposed tariffs of 50 per cent to 100 per cent on China for its Russian oil purchases.
While Washington has imposed tariffs on India for buying Russian cargoes, it has refrained from penalising China, which considers Russia an “all-weather” strategic partner.
“War cannot solve problems, and sanctions only complicate them,” Wang Yi said at a joint press conference with his Slovenian counterpart in Ljubljana, Reuters reported quoting a statement from China’s foreign ministry.
Trump wrote on his social media platform that NATO’s commitment to winning the war “has been far less than 100%,” calling the continued purchase of Russian oil by some alliance members “shocking.”
Addressing NATO countries, he added, “It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia.”
Since 2023, Turkey has ranked as the third-largest buyer of Russian oil, after China and India, Associated Press reported, citing the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
Other NATO members importing Russian oil include Hungary and Slovakia. It remains unclear whether Trump plans to directly confront Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan or Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, leaving his strategy uncertain.
Trump’s post came in the wake of Wednesday’s incursion of multiple Russian drones into Poland, marking a provocative move as they entered the airspace of a NATO ally. While Poland successfully shot down the drones, Trump downplayed the seriousness of the incident, suggesting it “could have been a mistake.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday called the drone incursion “unacceptable, unfortunate, and dangerous,” while deeming NATO’s response so far appropriate. He added that it remains uncertain whether the drones were deliberately directed at Poland.
“The question is whether the drones were targeted to go into Poland specifically. If that’s the case, that the evidence leads us there, then obviously that would be a highly escalatory move,” said Rubio.
