US, Japan, India in show of unity

The leaders of the United States, Japan and India met jointly Friday for the first time and called for open navigation in Asia, a show of unity with China clearly in mind.

The three right-leaning leaders -- US President Donald Trump, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe -- met on the sidelines of the summit of the G20 economic powers in Buenos Aires.

With the meeting lasting around 15 minutes, the three-way summit was more about symbolism than planning strategy, but it comes as all three share concerns on China's rising clout.

Japan and India both have longstanding territorial feuds with their neighbor, while Trump has been pressing China hard on trade and reiterating concerns over Beijing's assertive posture in the dispute-ridden South China Sea.

"Japan, the US and India share fundamental values and strategic interests," Abe said.

"By having three of us working together, we'll bring more prosperity and more stability in the region, as well as globally," he said.

Modi and Abe also both met separately with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump is set to meet Xi on Saturday for talks focused on trade disputes.

India, despite decades of territorial disputes with China, has historically shied away from joining alliances with major powers

Meanwhile, foreign ministers from the world's seven biggest economies, known as the Group of Seven or G7, have condemned Russia's actions in Kerch Strait as they reaffirmed their "unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity".

A statement by G7 members - the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the High Representative of the European Union - on Friday said there was "no justification" for Russia's use of military force against Ukrainian ships and naval personnel.

The G7 statement came a day after US President Donald Trump cancelled his meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin, saying the much-anticipated talks at the G20 could not take place while Ukrainian sailors were still in captivity.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Putin yesterday agreed to hold further talks about the issue at the adviser level among Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany, the spokesman said.

The spokesman said Merkel and Putin also discussed the situation in Syria, and agreed more effort should be made to work toward implementation of agreements by Germany, France, Turkey and Russia at a summit in Istanbul in October.

Russia on Sunday blocked three Ukrainian military vessels from passing through the Kerch Strait on their way from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov - the shared internal waters of both countries.

The confrontation escalated after Russia seized the three vessels and captured 24 Ukrainian crew members. Russia insists the Ukrainian sailors crossed into Russian waters illegally.

As the threat of a "total war" grew, Kiev introduced martial law in 10 of its 27 regions for 30 days "to avoid an all-out Russian invasion".