The Group of Seven foreign ministers are likely to reiterate their calls for Russia to immediately end its war against Ukraine and issue a tacit warning against China over attempts to change the status quo by force as they gather in Japan for a meeting starting Sunday, a source close to the matter said.

The meeting, to be joined by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, among others, will take place for three days in the central Japan resort town of Karuizawa, with arrangements under way to issue a joint statement following the discussions.

The outcome of the foreign ministerial talks will lay the groundwork for the G-7 summit from May 19 to 21 in the western Japan city of Hiroshima and will be chaired by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The source said Wednesday that the Japanese government is working to include in the joint statement language used in past G-7 documents, such as a demand for Russia to immediately and unconditionally withdraw all forces from Ukraine.

The foreign ministers are also likely to criticize Moscow's nuclear saber-rattling and demand that Russia pull its troops from a Ukrainian nuclear power plant it seized during the war.

The envisioned statement is intended to once again show the unwavering solidarity of the G-7 with the war-torn Eastern European country, the source said.

Since Moscow's invasion began in February last year, the G-7 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union -- have stepped up pressure on Russia by condemning its acts and through a series of economic sanctions aimed at depleting the Kremlin's war chest.

The countries are also wary of China, which has maintained friendly relations with Russia and been increasingly assertive in the East and South China seas, as well as over Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island that Beijing views as its own.

The G-7 foreign ministers are expected to reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait at the Karuizawa meeting, according to the source, apparently keeping in mind that Communist-led China has not ruled out forcibly bringing Taiwan into its fold.

The ministers will also condemn Pyongyang's repeated ballistic missile tests and call on all countries to fully implement sanctions in line with U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at curbing the North Korean nuclear and missile program, the source said.

The Japanese government hopes the statement will mention the G-7's commitment to nuclear disarmament, with Kishida hoping to pitch his signature vision of a world without nuclear weapons at the Hiroshima summit, the source added.

Kishida is a lawmaker from a constituency in Hiroshima, devastated by a U.S. atomic bombing in the closing days of World War II.