The G7, a political alliance which include Olympic hosts France, Italy and the United States, addressed Russia’s impact on global sport in a joint statement issued in response to the war in Ukraine.

Leaders of the seven nations, which also include Britain, Canada, Germany and Japan, have come together for a three-day meeting in Hiroshima in Japan where they have vowed to support Ukraine in their "quest for a just peace rooted in respect for international law" and impose further sanctions on Russia and "those who are supporting its war effort".

They also stressed that they were "paying attention to the impact of Russia’s aggression on international sport".

"While fully respecting the autonomy of sporting organisations, we are focused on fair sporting competition as well as on ensuring that Russian and Belarusian athletes are in no way appearing as representatives of their states," the leaders said.

US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, taly's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have gathered for the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Hiroshima.

The statement from the political leaders comes at a time when many sports are loosening their restrictions on the participation of Russia and Belarus before next year’s Olympics in Paris.

Athletes from the two countries had been largely frozen out of global sport following recommendations by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The IOC has now opened the door for them to return to international competition after ruling in late March that they should be allowed to compete as individual neutral athletes provided they have not supported the war in Ukraine and are not affiliated to the military.

International Federations have been divided in their response with several opting to maintain their bans.

Archery, canoeing, cycling, fencing, golf, judo, modern pentathlon, skateboarding, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon and wrestling have all permitted a return for athletes from Russia and Belarus under the IOC’s recommended conditions.

Athletics, badminton, equestrian, sport climbing and surfing have refused to ease their restrictions.

A decision on participation for Paris 2024  and Milan Cortina 2026 has yet to be made but IOC President Thomas Bach hinted at their inclusion when expressing his wish for competitors form all 206 National Olympic Committees to participate at the Games in the French capital next year.

The IOC’s stance has angered the Ukrainian Government which announced that athletes from the country would boycott any qualification events for Paris 2024 where Russians and Belarusians are present.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed last month that the "terrorist state will do everything to justify itself through sports or to use the international Olympic Movement to support its aggression".

Bach has blasted criticism from European Governments opposed to the IOC’s stance as "deplorable".

He has also argued that the IOC had found "some middle ground" after saying that he had accused by Russia of being "agents of the United States" and by Ukraine of siding with Moscow.

Zelenskyy is due to travel to Japan to address the G7 meeting.