The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations will start three days of talks on Sunday in the central Japanese town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture.

The participants, including Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, are scheduled to travel to the venue from Tokyo by train on Sunday afternoon. They will hold a working dinner in the evening.

Japan, as the host nation, hopes to send a strong message to the world emphasizing the group's unity ahead of the G7 Hiroshima Summit scheduled in May.

The main items on the agenda for the first two days include the situations in Ukraine, China and other Indo-Pacific nations, and Africa.

On the third day, the participants will discuss nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Hayashi is scheduled to speak at a news conference to wrap up the conference.

The ministers are scheduled to issue a joint statement on the final day.

A draft statement contains a demand for an immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine. It also opposes any unilateral attempt by China to change the status quo by force or coercion.

The Japanese government hopes to include aid to the emerging and developing countries collectively known as the Global South.

Ahead of the talks, Hayashi said that the international community stands at a historical turning point with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.