Stresa, Italy | Top finance officials from the world’s advanced economies moved towards an agreement on Saturday (Sunday AEST) over how to use Russia’s frozen central bank assets to aid Ukraine and warned against China’s dumping of cheap exports into their markets, aiming to marshal their economic might to tackle twin crises.

The embrace of more ambitious sanctions and protectionism came as finance ministers from the Group of Seven nations gathered for three days of meetings in Stresa, Italy. The proposals under consideration could deepen the divide between the alliance of wealthy Western economies and Russia, China and their allies, worsening a global fragmentation that has worried economists.