Group of Seven foreign ministers affirmed Sunday they will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea and pledged to maintain "maximum pressure" on Pyongyang until it rids itself of nuclear weapons, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said.

"We fully agreed that we will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea," Kono said on the first day of a two-day meeting in Toronto, Canada, suggesting Pyongyang's announcement that it will suspend nuclear tests and long-range missile launches was insufficient to meet the demands of the international community.

(Pool photo of G-7 foreign ministers' meeting)

"We shared the view that (the North's announcement) made no reference to the abandonment of (the North's) nuclear program," Kono told reporters.

But he added, "Compared to North Korea's behavior thus far, it marks one step forward. We welcome it as a positive step."

The G-7 ministers called for North Korea to abandon all weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical weapons, and its ballistic missile programs, including short- and medium-range missiles capable of hitting South Korea and Japan, according to Kono.

A senior U.S. official said President Donald Trump's administration will not make the same mistakes as those of his predecessors by pursuing incremental or phased approaches to denuclearizing North Korea.

"We are looking for substantial dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear programs first, and until denuclearization is achieved the global maximum pressure campaign will continue," the official said, requesting anonymity.

The remarks were in line with Trump's assertion that previous administrations gave Pyongyang too many concessions despite the country not abandoning its nuclear weapon ambitions.

The ministers met a day after North Korea said it will suspend nuclear tests and long-range missiles launches, as well as dismantle its only known nuclear test site, a pronouncement seen as leader Kim Jong Un playing a card ahead of his meeting Friday with South Korean President Moon Jae In and with U.S. President Donald Trump, expected in late May or early June.

The move by Kim, however, falls short of the G-7's demand that his regime abandon all weapons of mass destruction and missiles in a complete, verifiable and irreversible way.

Kono said that none of the G-7 members said North Korea's announcement -- which critics see as an attempt to win relief from U.N. and other sanctions -- would lead to an easing of sanctions on Pyongyang.

The other G-7 members meanwhile backed Kono's call for the immediate resolution of North Korea's abduction of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s.

The G-7 ministers, however, were apparently at odds over the Iran nuclear deal, with Washington calling for revising it and Europe vowing to promote it as way of preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

With Trump threatening to withdraw the United States if an agreement to revamp the deal cannot be reached before the May 12 deadline set by the U.S. leader, Kono said "many ministers" sought "continuous and complete implementation" of the deal.

The deal was struck in 2015 between Iran and six major powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States under the administration of Trump's predecessor Barack Obama.

Trump has called for greater access by international inspectors to Iran's military sites, constraining the country's ballistic missile program and eliminating so-called sunset provisions under which limits on its nuclear program start to expire after 10 years.

The G-7 ministers affirmed that a political solution would be the only way to address the Syria crisis, according to Kono, given that the U.S.-led airstrikes on the Middle Eastern country earlier this month had further damaged strained relations between the West and Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

The military action by the United States, Britain and France came after the alleged use by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime of chemical weapons on Syrian citizens.

Referring to a Myanmar military crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority that has driven nearly 700,000 refugees into neighboring Bangladesh, some G-7 members criticized the human rights record of the Southeast Asian country, according to Kono.

He said the G-7 nations should support initiatives by Myanmar and Bangladesh to improve the situation in the crisis-hit Rakhine State in western Myanmar.

On the situation in Ukraine, the G-7 ministers urged Russia to comply with the Minsk cease-fire agreements, which include respect for Ukraine's sovereignty, and to return to a rules-based international order, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Among other issues, the ministers underscored that advancing gender equality is essential to both economic prosperity and global peace and security, the ministry said.