KARUIZAWA /Japan/, April 17. /TASS/. The Group of Seven (G7) nations expect Russia to take concrete actions to reaffirm the idea that nuclear war is unacceptable, the G7 Non-Proliferation Directors Group said in a statement on Monday.

"We recall the Joint Statement of the Leaders of the Five Nuclear-Weapon States issued on January 3, 2022, on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races, and reaffirm that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. We call on Russia to recommit - in words and deeds - to the principles enshrined in that Statement," the document reads.

The G7 Non-Proliferation Directors Group also stressed that the G7’s "security policies are based on the understanding that nuclear weapons, for as long as they exist, should serve exclusively defensive purposes, deter aggression and prevent war and coercion."

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev emphasized at a meeting with his counterparts from Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states in New Delhi in March that Russia remained fully committed to the January 2022 statement and was also resolute in its conviction that any armed confrontation between nuclear-weapon countries must be prevented. However, Patrushev pointed out that the West’s provocative behavior could lead to devastating consequences as it runs counter to the essence of the joint statement.

On January 3, 2022, the leaders of five nuclear powers, who are also the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and the United States), adopted a joint statement. The parties emphasized that they viewed preventing a war between nuclear-weapon countries and reducing strategic risks as their top priority. The leaders of the five nations also expressed confidence that there could be no winners in a nuclear war and thus must never be fought.