BEIJING, June 8. /TASS/. China opposes sanctions and threats of their use in an effort to resolve the crisis in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a press conference on Monday.
"As for Ukraine, we have repeatedly voiced our stance on sanctions and the threats of their use," the diplomat said. "We are sure that the crisis in Ukraine can be resolved only through a dialogue and consultations," he said.
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The diplomat commented on some statements on the anti-Russian sanctions made by the leaders of the Group of Seven ahead of and on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Germany.
"We hope that all the respective parties will take the necessary steps and effective measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements and manage to advance in the process of the political settlement that will allow settling the crisis in Ukraine in a comprehensive way," he said.
Earlier in the day, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin regrets that the G7 summit has made no calls on all the signatories of the Minsk-2 agreements to comply with them.
The Group of Seven (G7) is an association of economically developed countries consisting of Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, the United States, France and Japan. Its key goals are to seek solutions for global political and social problems. In 1976-1997 the group existed in the form of G7.
After Russia joined G7, the association got the name of the Group of Eight (G8). In March 2014, as a result of the events in Ukraine and the ensuing crisis in Russia-West relations, the organization decided to return to the G7 format.