The Group of Seven nations should work together on a multinational probe into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Monday.
"The G-7's concerted effort is needed to solve this problem," Suga, the government's top spokesman, said in a meeting with visiting Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird at the prime minister's office.
Suga conveyed Japan's condolences to Canada for losing a citizen in the plane crash in eastern Ukraine on July 17.
Baird expressed support for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policies, and his plan to have Japan defend allies under armed attack, Suga said.
Baird also voiced hope that Canada will soon be able to export liquefied natural gas to Japan and that they will move forward with talks on a proposed bilateral free trade agreement, Suga said.
In a separate meeting, Baird told Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida that countries involved in territorial disputes in the South China Sea should not take actions that will raise tensions in the region.
Kishida stressed the need for regional powers to uphold the rule of law in the Asia-Pacific region, an apparent reference to China's growing assertiveness in its territorial claims in the South and East China seas.
The G-7 nations are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.