The foreign ministers of the G7 group of leading industrialised economies have issued a stark warning to Russia, vowing harsh consequences should it launch an attack on Ukraine.
A possible Russian invasion has alarmed the international community in recent weeks due to a massive build-up of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border.
Russia is said to have massed between 75,000 and 100,000 soldiers in the region, according to NATO sources, although officials in Moscow have repeatedly denied plans to attack Ukraine.
The ministers said they were united in their "condemnation of Russia's military build-up and aggressive rhetoric towards Ukraine" in a joint statement.
“Any use of force to change borders is strictly prohibited under international law. Russia should be in no doubt that further military aggression against Ukraine would have massive consequences and severe cost in response,” the statement said.
The G7 group, which includes the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the United States, Italy, Canada and Japan, previously - as the G8 - included Russia until its 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Alongside Russia and Ukraine, further issues discussed by the G7 ministers included greater distance from China and concerns over Iran's nuclear program.
The ministers called on Iran to make concessions in order to rescue talks on the country's nuclear program.
This was the last chance for Iran to come to the negotiating table with a serious solution, UK Foreign Minister Lynn Truss said, vowing that Iran would be prevented from building a nuclear bomb.
Talks have stalled to resurrect the 2015 nuclear deal, which restricted Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of US sanctions.
Germany's new Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock criticised Iran for delaying the negotiations and for gambling away trust in the process.
The final declaration also contained reaffirmation of the G7 pledge to vaccinate the world's population against COVID-19 by the end of 2022.
However, no specific new commitments or statements on the release of patents were given.
Most of the guests were not able to attend the meeting in person due to the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant.
The summit in Liverpool, in northwest England, is the last G7 meeting due to take place under the UK presidency.
From 2022, Germany will take over the role.
Ms Baerbock said that she wanted to make the fight against the climate crisis one of the central topics of the German presidency.
