The foreign ministers of the G7 states will continue their meeting in Japan on Wednesday with consultation on the situation in Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific.
On Tuesday evening, delegates at the meeting in the capital Tokyo discussed the crisis in the Middle East following the terrorist attacks on Israel by Islamist Hamas and the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
Britain, the U.S., France, Italy, Japan, Canada, and Germany make up the G7 group of Western industrialized nations.
Japan currently holds the presidency.
Before the meeting Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had signaled that the G7 must remain strong and united in their response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“If we run out of puff in our support for Ukraine now, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will exploit this mercilessly – with terrible consequences for the people in Ukraine and Europe,” she said.
The German minister stressed that it was vitally important for the G7 to continue its comprehensive support for Ukraine, including continuing to work together on Ukraine’s air defence shield.
Baerbock said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine offered a lesson on the situation in the Indo-Pacific.
“We have painfully learnt how aggressive rhetoric or fantasy maps can turn into dangerous reality,” Baerbock said.
“We must work together today to ensure that no new theatres of war emerge, the shock waves of which would shake us all.”
