Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven rich nations condemned Russia’s recent talk of stationing nuclear weapons in Belarus as “unacceptable” and called on China to act as a responsible member of the international community.

The comments in the communique, marking the conclusion of a 3-day meeting in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa, highlight how the dual issues of Russian military intervention and fears of similar action by China against Taiwan, have been a focus for the gathering.

“Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and its threat to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus are unacceptable. Any use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons by Russia would be met with severe consequences”, - the ministers said.

The ministers also said they reiterated their call for China to act as a responsible member of the international community, agreeing that peace and security in the Taiwan Strait was critical and opposing Beijing’s militarisation of the South China Sea.