The foreign ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations on Friday agreed to impose tougher sanctions on Russia if it does not stop assaulting Ukraine, and demanded in particular that Moscow stop attacks in the vicinity of nuclear power plants.
The meeting in Brussels, which Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi joined online, took place as Russia's attacks on Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, the largest in Europe, briefly fueled fears of a devastating nuclear catastrophe.
"Any armed attack on and threat against nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes constitutes a violation of the principles of international law," the ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union, said in a joint statement issued after the talks.
"This kind of attack is definitely unacceptable, and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms," Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo, suggesting that Japan, a country that suffered the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis triggered by a powerful earthquake and tsunami, knows how dreadful such a disaster can be.
The G-7 members support an initiative announced by the International Atomic Energy Agency for an agreement between Ukraine and Russia to ensure the safety and security of nuclear facilities in Ukraine, the joint statement said.
Russia has taken control of the six-reactor Zaporizhzhia complex following the attack. No radioactive leakage has been detected, according to a U.S. defense official.
The ministers also reiterated their "profound condemnation of Russia's unprovoked and unjustifiable war of choice against Ukraine," and said Russia "must immediately stop its ongoing assault against Ukraine, which has dramatically impacted the civilian population and destroyed civilian infrastructure."
Emphasizing that indiscriminate attacks are prohibited by international humanitarian law, the ministers vowed in the statement to "hold accountable those responsible for war crimes, including indiscriminate use of weapons against civilians."
They also pledged to beef up the G-7's humanitarian aid for Ukrainians while affirming their support and commitment to the East European nation's sovereignty and independence.
The G-7 and other countries have already imposed a series of economic sanctions on Russia and Belarus, which has been helping Moscow's military action in Ukraine. The measures have included asset freezes for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
All of the G-7 members have also agreed to exclude several Russian banks from a key international payment network known as SWIFT to disrupt Russian trade and money transfers.
"We have imposed several rounds of far-reaching economic and financial sanctions. We will continue to impose further severe sanctions in response to Russian aggression," the G-7 foreign ministers said in their statement.
The G-7 meeting was held on the sidelines of a foreign ministerial session of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that took place in the Belgian capital earlier in the day.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the Russian attack against the nuclear plant "just demonstrates the recklessness of this war and the importance of ending it" when he met U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ahead of the gathering of the security alliance.
The G-7 foreign ministers have been stepping up diplomacy in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, launched on Feb. 24.
The Brussels meeting marks the third time the ministers have held talks in two weeks, including an online session last weekend.
Related coverage:
Russia seizes Europe's largest nuclear plant in southern Ukraine
Japan to provide bullet-proof vests, other goods to Ukraine
EU bans 7 Russian banks from int'l payment network SWIFT
